Shane Lowry and England’s David Skinns are a part of a share of the lead heading into the ultimate spherical of the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Basic, as Rory McIlroy slipped out of rivalry after a expensive error.
Lowry adopted back-to-back 67s with a five-under 66 on Saturday at PGA Nationwide, whereas Skinns – who hadn’t made a lower on the PGA Tour since 2022 and has by no means completed greater than tied-Twenty ninth – additionally carded a third-round 66 to maneuver to 13 underneath.
The pair are joined in a three-way tie on the high by American Austin Eckroat, who posted a three-under 68, with the trio holding a three-shot buffer over a gaggle of 5 gamers tied-fourth containing France’s Victor Perez and Scotland’s Martin Laird.
Min Woo Lee, Jacob Bridgeman and Kevin Yu full the quintet on 10 underneath, whereas McIlroy fell six behind after a triple-bogey on the par-four sixteenth noticed him stutter to a one-over 72.
Can Lowry declare Florida victory?
Lowry birdied the primary and picked up a shot on the par-five third after lacking his 15-foot eagle strive, then holed from 20 toes on the subsequent earlier than cancelling out a birdie on the tenth by failing to avoid wasting par from shut vary on the twelfth.
The Irishman responded by birdieing two of his final three holes to set the clubhouse goal, with Lowry on the lookout for his first worldwide win because the 2022 BMW PGA Championship and maiden PGA Tour success on American soil.
“I’ve obviously played quite well over the last few days,” Lowry mentioned. “I will take nothing with no consideration. I will put together as greatest I can within the morning, do the identical factor I have been doing all week, and go on the market and provides it myself.
“If my best is good enough tomorrow, that will be amazing. If not, we’ll be back to the drawing board on Monday.”
Skinns, the world No 278 who has missed the primary 4 cuts of the season on the PGA Tour, bolstered his hopes of a Cinderella story after making 5 birdies in a bogey-free third spherical.
“I wouldn’t say nerves, I’ve just been waiting a long time to be in this spot,” Skinns mentioned. “It’s more I’m excited to be here. I’m trying to make every moment as good as it can be. I’m just really excited.”
What occurred to McIlroy?
McIlroy misplaced floor on the leaders after opening with eight straight pars and fell additional behind when he missed from three toes to avoid wasting par on the ninth, solely to stand up and down from a greenside bunker to benefit from the par-five subsequent.
The Northern Irishman rolled in from 20 toes on the twelfth and pitched to shut vary on the thirteenth to register back-to-back birdies and get again inside two of the lead, however dropped a shot on the par-three fifteenth after discovering sand off the tee.
McIlroy despatched his method on the par-four subsequent into the hazard and unsuccessfully tried to hack out of the water, having taken off a shoe to play the shot, then elected to take a penalty drop earlier than pitching to seven toes and two-putting for a triple-bogey seven.
The previous world No 1 missed a birdie alternative from an analogous distance on the par-three subsequent, earlier than a two-putt birdie on the par-five final left him with six strokes again in tied-Twenty sixth.
Billy Horschel additionally heads into the ultimate day on seven underneath and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick is an extra stroke again, whereas Robert MacIntyre is tied-58th after a level-par 71 saved him at two underneath.
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