Rory McIlroy birdied four of his last five holes in a stunning 62 to open up a one shot lead heading into the final round of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
The Northern Irishman entered the day at TPC Southwind five shots off the lead but carded his lowest ever round from 103 in World Golf Championships events and his lowest of the season on the European Tour to get to 12 under and lead the way from World Number One Brooks Koepka.
The two four time Major champions will now go out in the final group on Sunday in what promises to be a scintillating final day as the tournament makes its first appearance in Tennessee.
That looked a long way away when McIlroy was three over after 13 holes on day one but since then he has made 16 birdies and a single bogey as he bounces back from a disappointing missed cut on home soil at The Open Championship.
Overnight leader Matthew Fitzpatrick carded a 69 to sit at ten under, a shot clear of Swede Alex Noren, Spaniard Jon Rahm and Australia’s Marc Leishman.
McIlroy won this event in 2014 when it was played at Firestone Country Club and will be looking for a third World Golf Championships win, while Koepka will be seeking his first.
‘It is exciting,’ said McIlroy. ‘He’s the number one player in the world, four Majors in the last three years, he’s the man right now. I got to play with him the last couple of days and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed seeing what he can do.
‘The last four missed cuts that I’ve had, I’ve finished first, second, first and 12th, I’m a quick learner. We’re very fortunate in golf that there’s always next week, you can respond so quickly from setbacks and failures.
‘Tomorrow’s a new day. Whatever happened today is great but I’ve got to reset and try and go again tomorrow. I think it’s nice that I’ve seen some really good golf and I’ve seen some putts fall. I don’t know if it gives you momentum but it gives you confidence going forward.’
WGC-St. Jude Invitational (USA unless stated):
198 – Rory McIlroy (NIR) 69-67-62
199 – Brooks Koepka 68-67-64
200 – Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) 67-64-69
201 – Marc Leishman (AUS) 69-69-63, Alex Noren (SWE) 66-69-66, Jon Rahm (ESP) 62-71-68
202 – Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 66-71-65, Ian Poulter (ENG) 66-69-67, Billy Horschel 67-66-69
