McIlroy remains ten behind in LA
THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 24: Justin Thomas of the United States plays his shot from the fifth tee during the third round of the Zozo Championship @ Sherwood on October 24, 2020 in Thousand Oaks, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy’s bid to rule out the silly mistakes that have dogged him for months failed at the final hurdle in the Zozo Championship in California.
The Co Down man covered the back nine at Sherwood Country Club in five-under 31, then birdied the second and fifth to get to seven-under for the day only to run up a double-bogey six at the ninth — missing the green left from 187 yards from the centre of the fairway before then missing a three-footer for bogey - to run up his third double-bogey of the week.
He moved up seven places on the leaderboard to tied 57th on nine-under but lies 10 strokes behind Justin Thomas, whose 67 gave him a one-shot lead over Jon Rahm on 19-under.
McIlroy expressed his frustration after Friday’s second round, insisting he was possibly taking on too much when in trouble, which was not the case yesterday.
"So I've made 15 birdies in the first two days, which usually would put you right up at the top of the leaderboard," lamented McIlroy. "I’ve just made too many mistakes.”
He has now made 22 birdies in three days, leaving him tied second with Patrick Reed and Scottie Scheffler in the birdie stakes, one behind Sebastian Muñoz.
2020 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD
(7th of 50 events in the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season)
Thousand Oaks, California October 22-25, 2020 FedExCup Points: 500 (winner) Sherwood Country Club Par/Yards: 36-36--72/7,073 Purse: $8,000,000/$1,440,000
Third-Round Notes -- Saturday, October 24, 2020
Weather: Cloudy. High of 66. Wind W/SW 5-10 mph.
Third-Round Leaderboard
Justin Thomas 65-65-67--197 (-19)
Jon Rahm 68-67-63--198 (-18)
Lanto Griffin 66-65-68--199 (-17)
Sebastián Muñoz 64-70-66--200 (-16)
Ryan Palmer 69-65-66--200 (-16)
Patrick Cantlay 67-65-68--200 (-16)
Six players 201 (-15)
Things to Know
In search of his 14th PGA TOUR victory, Justin Thomas holds the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the 14th time in his PGA TOUR career
World No. 2 Jon Rahm starts 6-under through his first seven holes en route to a 9-under 63, his fifth round of 63 or better in his PGA TOUR career
Rahm seeks his sixth PGA TOUR title and third in the state of California
Lanto Griffin birdies his first four holes to tie his 54-hole career-low and sits two back through 54 holes
Patrick Cantlay is bogey-free through 54 holes
Eleven players are within four strokes of the lead heading into the final round