For the second day running, Rory McIlroy went bogey-free around The K Club’s Palmer North Course, but he admitted to being a little frustrated not to have shot a few strokes lower than the four-under 68 that leaves him needing to pick up four strokes on leader Julien Saddier in the final round.
Birdies on four, five, 14 and 18 will see the world number two in the penultimate group on Sunday, and he knows that the way he’s playing that it won’t take a lot more to emulate his 2016 success at this very venue.
“Walking off 18, I said to Harry [Diamond], it was probably the most frustrating four-under-par round of golf I’ve played in a while,” he said in the immediate aftermath. “I had plenty of chances. Just I didn’t – it got gusty at the end. I gave myself a lot of chances, hit some good putts that didn’t go in, had a nice one sort of drop on 14 but, yeah, I felt like all day I was just trying to keep myself close-ish to the lead. I feel like I could be a couple of shots better, but overall, you know, still a decent position going into tomorrow.”
With the difficulty of the wind, the fact that he kept a clean card is very encouraging, as is the fact that he’s happy with the way he’s swinging the club, especially off the tee.
“I hit it good. I hit it good off the tee again, but yeah, the wind caught me out a couple of times,” he admitted. “I think what’s hard as well is the greens are so soft, so you’re trying to take balls out of the air so you don’t spin as much, but then if it’s downwind, you’re not getting the effect of the wind, so you’re playing for wind, but it’s not really effective, but, if I can hit it the same again, maybe see a couple more putts go in tomorrow, you know, hopefully I’ll be right there.”
Once again, enormous crowds accompanied the reigning Masters champion for the full 18 holes, and McIlroy paid tribute to the galleries, not only for their vocal support which he fully appreciates, but also for the support for the stellar play of Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Hereida with whom he was paired and who went one better than McIlroy’s 68.
“That was great,” he beamed. “I said it for the third day in a row, it’s just an unbelievable atmosphere to play in. It’s such a pleasure; they’re so respectful, they supported Alfredo out there a lot as well, and we had a great round of golf. It was amazing. I know it’s a sellout for the weekend, so I’m expecting more of the same tomorrow, which will be great.”
Four back, but with just three players ahead of him, he knows he’s very much in with a chance but thinks that he needs to hit the ground running to put the pressure on Saddier and Angel Hidalgo who’s nine-under 63 was the round of the day, who will be in the final group.
“I do, yeah,” he replied when asked if he felt there was a low round in him. “I just need to see a couple of putts drop early on. You know, I gave myself chances early on, and didn’t quite convert, but if I can get off to a fast start tomorrow, put a little bit of pressure on the guys behind, hopefully I’ll make the back nine interesting.”
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