Open Champion Rory McIlroy used a three hour storm delay to carve three shots off Sergio Garcia’s WGC – Bridgestone Invitational third round lead in Akron, Ohio.
Garcia, who was joint runner-up to McIlroy at Royal Liverpool, was five clear of the Irishman when the threat of thunderstorms forced a halt to play and with both players still three holes to play on the Firestone Country Club course.
When play resumed McIlroy birdied his 17th and final holes in a round of a four under par 66 for an 11-under par tally as he seeks to win a first WGC title and also hopefully head to this week’s PGA Championship in Kentucky as World No. 1.
Garcia returned from the delay and could only manage to par his closing three holes in a score of 67 to move to 14-under par and on a week he officially became engaged to Katarina Boehm.
A penny for Rory McIlroy’s thoughts & no doubt thinking about cutting into Sergio Garcia’s lead. (Photo – Eoin Clarke/www.golffile.ie)
McIlroy said: “I was just trying to get as close to the top of the leader board as possible, and also that was my goal today to try and get into the final group for Sunday and I managed to achieve that.
“Sergio didn’t quite have the luxury of seeing what I was doing when I played the last day at Royal Liverpool on route to winning The Open, so it will be nice to play alongside him tomorrow and at least keep an eye on him.
“So I will be trying to apply a bit of pressure when I can but really I am just looking forward to getting out there and try and win another tournament so soon after what happened at Hoylake a couple of weeks ago.”
McIlroy continues to draw on his enormous length off the tee and remarked before being led off for a random drugs test, it is the best he’s hitting the driver all season.
During the opening two rounds he was easily 40-50 yards past Gleneagles Ryder Cup rival Matt Kuchar and then on day three of the $US 9m event he easily out-drove playing partners Rickie Fowler and Charl Schwartzel.
He said: “I have never driven the ball better. I really haven’t and I’m excited about it.
“I feel really comfortable with that part of my game, and that part of my game is the foundation of my game so much so that if I drive the ball well everything else flows down from that.”
Garcia is looking for a first victory since his new fiancee caddied for him in clinching last December’s Asian Tour season-ending Thailand Golf Championship.
But after having to play bridesmaid to McIlroy a fortnight ago and also finish second on two occasions to fellow Irishman Padraig Harrington at the 2007 Open and 2008 PGA, Garcia will be looking to slam shut any McIlroy victory invitation.
He said: “Rory is a wonderful player. But it’s nice to play with someone that you like, and someone that you enjoy playing with.
“But at the end of the day, it’s all about playing well on the final day and see who can come out on top.”
However McIlroy and Garcia will not have things all their own way with Aussie Adam Scott (65) sharing fourth place on eight under par with fellow Major winners Keegan Bradley (67) and Justin Rose (70).
And 14-time Major winning Tiger Woods will head to Valhalla later tonight US time, and the scene of his 2000 PGA success and 2008 USA Ryder Cup triumph still looking for that ‘explosiveness’ in his game after posting a third round 72 to fall back to a share of 36th spot on one over par.
Woods said: “I went back to old driver I used last year as I figured the lighter shaft should help me out a little bit, because I am not quite as explosive as I need to be.
“I also haven’t done any explosive lifting since the surgery. I also haven’t done any of my fast twitch stuff yet.
“As soon as I start doing my fast twitch stuff, I can get my speed back up and then go back to my old driver.
“But then I won’t be able to do that until my doctors say I’m ready, and what I don’t want to do is burn the candle at both ends by doing fast twitch, explosive lifting , and all of my agility stuff I’ve done for years.”
There was the bizarre incident during Woods round when large on-course TV screens crossed to Nick Faldo and catching the six-time Major Champion staring into a mirror ahead of returning to live CBS coverage of the event.
Woods was on the 16th green when distracted by images of Faldo coming his hair and straightening his neck tie.
Woods said: “It took me three minutes to get settled again after seeing that.”
Stephen Gallacher, and the only Scot in the field, also managed to complete his third round and breaking par for a first time this week with one under par 69 to move to four over par.
The Scot capped his round with four birdies in succession from his eighth hole with the best being a 20-footer at his 12th hole.
And with five birdies on his third round card it was one more than the prior two days combined.
He said: “I played much better today and really pleased with that.
“The problem over the past two days was that anytime I hit it into the rough I never had a shot and that’s hurt me.
“So I am happy with the way I am playing and looking forward to next week, and what would be a good reward to take to Valhalla would be something like a 65, so as to get back to even or red numbers.”
