PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy on verge of historical past Steve Stricker can relate to

Rory McIlroy has received two straight RBC Canadian Opens. He now has his eyes set on a 3rd.

The Northern Irishman shot a 6-under par 66 in Saturday’s third spherical to rocket up the leaderboard.

McIlroy sits at 12-under par for the event, two strokes behind chief C.T. Pan of Taiwan, going into Sunday’s last spherical.

Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Harry Higgs, Andrew Novak and Mark Hubbard additionally sit at 12-under par via 54 holes.

If McIlroy goes on to win, he’ll turn into the primary PGA Tour participant to win a event three straight occasions since Steve Stricker received the John Deere Basic three consecutive years in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

McIlroy would additionally turn into the primary participant to win the RBC Canadian Open three consecutive occasions.

Picture by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Pictures

Granted, the RBC Canadian Open didn’t happen in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic. However McIlroy, the 2019 and 2022 Champion, has by no means received at Toronto’s Oakdale Golf & Nation Membership.

St. George’s Golf & Nation Membership hosted final yr’s version in Etobicoke, whereas the 2019 RBC Canadian Open was contested at Hamilton Golf & Nation Membership.

“I really feel like the important thing to [Oakdale] is getting off to an excellent begin,” McIlroy instructed CBS Sports activities’ Amanda Renner following his third spherical. “I used to be in a position to do this at the moment, and I stored it going via the center of the spherical there.”

McIlroy made birdies on the third, fifth, and eighth holes to exit with a 33.

That features the dangerous break he suffered on the par-5 seventh gap, the place his third shot rifled off the flag stick and spun all the best way to the entrance of the inexperienced.

As an alternative of getting a simple birdie likelihood there, he went on to make a 5.

“I really feel like I might have squeezed a pair extra photographs out of this spherical,” McIlroy admitted afterwards.

On the again 9, McIlroy made three straight birdies at 11, 12, and 13.

Picture by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Pictures

He rolled in a 15-footer on the 202-yard par-3 eleventh to get the birdie prepare rolling.

However he couldn’t get decrease than 12-under par over his last 5 holes. He three-putted the straightforward par-5 18th to wrap up his third spherical.

“General, I’m actually happy with how I performed,” McIlroy added. “I felt like I hit my irons higher. I obtained the ball off the tee fairly properly. When you do this, there are tons of scoring alternatives on the market.”

McIlroy is tied for second in strokes gained total via three rounds. He has hit the ball fantastically from tee to inexperienced all week, as he has not made a bogey since his sixteenth gap in Thursday’s opening spherical.

Fairly spectacular stuff from McIlroy, contemplating the bombshell information that dropped earlier this week.

Perhaps the “sacrificial lamb” can rally behind the Canadian crowd and silence the naysayers Sunday afternoon in Canada.

A win would additionally set himself up fantastically for subsequent week’s U.S. Open.