Golf:Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell said winning the 55th World Cup of Golf would be the career highlight of their careers after the Irish pair held onto a narrow one shot lead heading into the final round at Mission Hills in China.
The pair have led the tournament all week and today’s eight-under-par 64 brought them to 26-under, one shot ahead of Italy and defending champions Sweden.
The Italian brothers, Francesco and Edoardo Molinari shot an equal best of the day 61 while Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson carded a 62 to share second on 25-under.
"I think if everything was to go to plan and we were to win tomorrow it would definitely be the biggest highlight of my golfing career so far," said 20-year-old McIlroy.
"It's very special to win an event, but to win it with a partner and to win it with a friend would make it even more special.
"It's the World Cup of Golf. You're competing against world champions in a way. It would mean a lot to me. It would mean an awful lot."
McIlroy's promising professional career is, of course, still in its infancy and the world number 10 has just one European Tour title to his name, the Dubai Desert Classic he won in April.
Fellow Ulsterman McDowell, who has four European Tour titles and a Ryder Cup to his name from seven years as a professional, said a win at Mission Hills would top all of those wins.
"This will certainly be the highlight of my career if we can go and get the job done tomorrow," the 30-year-old said.
"I think this is a special event. It's disappointing that some of the countries don't embrace this tournament for what it is."
The World Cup has gone through many manifestations in its long history and although the fields have improved in the first three years of its 12 years at Mission Hills, several nations still do not send their top players.
"It's the World Cup of Golf," McDowell said. "It needs to be embraced by more of the countries and get them sending their best teams over."
McIlroy and McDowell would still, however, join the likes of Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as former winners of the John Jay Hopkins trophy if they emerge triumphant tomorrow.
"I'd love to put my name on that trophy," McDowell added. "I mean any trophy with Tiger on it is a pretty special trophy.
"There are some great winners of this tournament, and I think it would be unbelievable to add our names on there tomorrow."
Collated third round scores and totals from the 55th World Cup of Golf Omega Mission Hills World Cup, Mission Hills GC, Olazabal Course, Shenzhen, China
(Par: 72)
190Rory McIlroy & Graeme McDowell (Irl) 58 68 64
191Henrik Stenson & Robert Karlsson (Swe) 64 65 62, Edoardo Molinari & Francesco Molinari (Ita) 64 66 61
197Ryuji Imada & Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn) 62 71 64, Rory Sabbatini & Richard Sterne (Rsa) 65 70 62
198Stephen Dodd & Jamie Donaldson (Wal) 66 68 64, Ian Poulter & Ross Fisher (Eng) 66 69 63
199Jhonattan Vegas & Alfredo Adrian (Ven) 67 67 65
200Jeev Milkha Singh & Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 67 68 65, Robert Allenby & Stuart Appleby (Aus) 68 70 62, Tano Goya & Rafa Echenique (Arg) 61 75 64, Charlie Wi & Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 64 75 61
201Martin Ureta & Hugo Leon (Chi) 69 67 65
202Lam Chih-bing & Mardan Mamat (Sin) 66 70 66, Soren Hansen & Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 66 70 66
203Alex Cejka & Martin Kaymer (Ger) 66 71 66, Graham Delaet & Stuart Anderson (Can) 64 74 65
204Liang Wen-Chong & Zhang Lian-Wei (Chn) 65 71 68, Thongchai Jaidee & Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 67 70 67, Angelo Que & Mars Pucay (Phi) 68 72 64
205David Smail & Danny Lee (Nzl) 67 68 70
206Nick Watney & John Merrick (USA) 67 72 67, David Drysdale & Alastair Forsyth (Sco) 69 73 64
207Sergio Garcia & Gonzalo Fdz-Castano (Spa) 69 71 67, Thomas Levet & Christian Cevaer (Fra) 67 73 67
208Muhammad Munir & Muhammad Shabbir (Pak) 69 75 64, Lin Wen-Tang & Lu Wei-Chih (Tpe) 67 74 67
211Rafael Barcellos & Ronaldo Francisco (Bra) 68 75 68
