Rory McIlroy will look to ride Hurricane Hermine to victory in the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston.
McIlroy ended his third round in dramatic style with his 4-iron second shot lipping out for albatross ‘2’ and with the eventual eagle handing him a round of five under par 66 and a then share of the clubhouse lead at nine under par tally on the TPC Boston course.
“That shot into the last was worth the wait as I have to back off my shot as the wind was gusting a bit and while I wasn’t sure if I had enough club in the end, I hit my 4-iron as good as I could,” he said.
“Even though I missed the albatross, it was a nice way to finish walking off with an eagle and with the conditions tomorrow set to become a lot trickier hopefully I will be in with a shout tomorrow.”
Rory McIlroy on route to shooting his lowest PGA Tour round this year on day three of the Deutsche Bank Championship. (Photo – PGA Tour .com)
And with Hurricane Hermine inching closer to the New England Atlantic shoreline PGA Tour officials have brought last round tee times forward despite the presence of very strong winds and heavy rain.
McIlroy went into Sunday’s round, and in the event he won in 2012, having posted a second day 67 and his best score since a similar effort on the last day of July’s Open Championship at Royal Troon.
The current World No. 5 began his third round with a bogey before cutting a swath through the field with five birdies in eight holes, including four in succession from the fifth.
Rory McIlroy … 210 yards … for albatross …
Incredible. https://t.co/lZwfDtL46c
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 4, 2016
But McIlroy gave two shots back with a horrible second shot at the 12th that flew the green and found a ‘native vegetation area’ and at the same hole he took ‘triple’ in Friday’s opener.
The four-time Major champ got one back at 15 before the dramatics at the last in a hopeful further example of a lift to his putting.
“It’s nice that some confidence is coming back into my putting as I don’t feel under pressure with my long game to have to hit it inside three-feet all the time,” said McIlroy.
“I am starting to give myself more chances from 10, 15 feet and have the good chance of holing them.
“It’s just amazing what one great round does as that 67 I shot on Saturday carried into today as I made four nice birdies in succession on the front nine and holed some good putts on the back nine, as well.
“This is only the second weekend of what I am trying to do with regards to my putting but then I am already seeing some signs of good stuff.”
And the following questions were also put to McIlroy:-
Do you get more of a boost out of the finish you had today or like you said, the putting?
RORY McILROY: Probably the putting more than anything else because I know my long game has been right there. I think I’m number one on Tour strokes gained off the tee, number two strokes gained tee to green, so that stuff has been there all year. Even the approach shots haven’t been up to the standard I would like them to be, but even around the green I’ve been okay. It’s just been the putting that’s really let me down. I’m really happy with that, I’m happy with how I’ve held on, I’m happy with how I converted a few of the chances I had yesterday and today and feel like if I can just keep that going and build on the momentum that I have.
Mental versus physical with the putting?
RORY McILROY: It’s both. I mean, I think physical, physical was what I needed to fix first off. I needed to address a few things in my stroke that made it difficult for me to start the ball online basically. So once I have addressed those, then you start to see some results of that, then that helps the mental side and that helps your confidence. Sometimes it’s the other way around but for me, with what I was going through, it was definitely physical first, which then has led into helping me mentally as well.
At the close of the Boston event McIlroy will head to Indianapolis for Thursday’s start to the BMW Championship
Joining McIlroy in the ‘Racing Car’ capital of the world is Graeme McDowell who missed the cut in Boston but will remain inside the top-70 on the FedEx Cup Play-Off points list.
McDowell carded scores of 74 and 70 and is projected to drop 16 places to 51st on the table but will need to be top-30 at the end of next week if he’s to contest the season-ending Tour Championship.
