McIlroy lurking at the Concession; Lowry struggling on greens
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot from a bunker on the second hole during the third round of the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession on February 27, 2021 in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy will join a host of players and don red and black in the final round of the WGC-Workday Championship at the Concession today to show his support for Tiger Woods following his car crash this week.
But he admits that his game is still a work in progress, even after carding a six-under 66 to haul himself from tied 13th into a tie for fifth, just four strokes behind leader Collin Morikawa on 11-under par.
The Holywood star has made 20 birdies so far this week, more than anyone in the field bar Morikawa, who has made 23.
He also made an eagle on the par-five 13th when he got fortunate and saw a pulled seven-iron finish just 12 feet away.
McIlroy knows that after making seven bogeys and two double-bogeys so far this week, he can’t afford to make more mistakes on Sunday if he’s to become the second player to win all four World Golf Championships titles in his career, joining Dustin Johnson
He might have been more than four strokes behind but Morikawa, who was 17-under with six to play after making eight birdies and a bogey in a 10-hole stretch from the third, gave the field a chance by making sixes at the par-five 13th and 17th holes.
“It seems like it's one of these courses that gives up a lot of birdies and some eagles and stuff, but it can bite you very quickly without you really doing much wrong,” said McIlroy, who is tied for fifth with his final round playing partner Patrick Reed. “You look what happened to Viktor on the ninth hole last night (quadruple bogey). Even if you hit decent tee shots into some of these bunkers and it seems like every time the ball just goes up against the lip and you can't really do much from there.
“It's one of these places where you just have to stay patient and know that you're going to have chances, and feel like this week I've been riding the rollercoaster a little bit, but it felt a little better today.”
Morikawa shot 67 to lead by two strokes from Billy Horschel (69) and Brooks Koepka (70) on 15-under with Webb Simpson alone in fourth, three behind on 12-under after a 69.
McIlroy started well yesterday with a birdie three but he found water from a fairway bunker at the second and made a double-bogey six before recovering over the last 12 holes, interspersing six birdies and an eagle with one bogey and a series of par saves that kept his momentum going.
“After I made birdie on 7 and 8, I got to whatever it was for the day, or six-under for the tournament, I said to Harry, let's get to 10 by the end of the day and let's see where that leaves us. I shot one better than that. I didn't expect the lead to be what it is at, but I don't know, I think if you're within three or four, you still feel like you've got a reasonable chance.”
He added: “I made a couple of birdies in a row like I did on 7 and 8. Like I missed the green on 9. Getting that ball up and down was huge because it just keeps that little bit of momentum that you have going. And then you go to 10, you roll a good putt for birdie. I gave one back at 11, but then I was able to bounce back with a birdie and an eagle.
“So I've just been sort of shooting myself in the foot a little bit with some of the mistakes I've been making, but then sort of over the last 12 holes there I started to if I made a couple of birdies, I make a good par and then I make another birdie. So just keeping the momentum in the right way.”
As for the state of his game, he admitted that he was still far from happy with his form.
“Still somewhat pessimistic,” he said. “It's okay, it's nowhere near what I feel like I can play. I feel like I'm sort of piecing it around. Yeah, I'm getting it around, put it that way. I don't feel like I'm flushing it by any means, but it's a work in progress and I'm seeing some good signs, which I guess is encouraging.”
Driving the ball better — he is sixth for strokes gained off the tee — he is still 29th for strokes gained approach but encouraged by his play with the wedges and ranks fourth from 100-125 yards.
“Some wedge shots have been good actually, wedge shots have been better, not as many pulls with those,” he said. “It sort of seems like if I can smooth the transition out, I can come down on the right path instead of some of the shots, like that 7 iron on 13 aiming at the TV tower, it's uphill and you're sort of going after it. As soon as I go after one, that right shoulder just wants to get that way, the club gets out in front of me and I can hit that pull. Smoothing out that transition a little bit.
“And the wedges have been good this week, but because you're not going after them so much. So it's just trying to even that tee shot on the last, I'm just trying to take it back so slowly just to get it back because the more I can get it back on the right way and the right path, the more it's going to come down on the right path. So there are encouraging signs. Actually, the putting was pretty good again today.”
He admitted he’d love to have three weeks off to groove his swing but will have to do in on the run as he plays a heavy schedule through the Masters.
“I can hit a 7iron 150 yards and get it in the right positions and that's good, but then it's hitting that 7iron with speed and the way you want to, that's where it's still taking a little bit of time,” he explained of his range work.
Shane Lowry had a disappointing day, falling 15 places to tied 50th on two-over after a 76.
While he hasn’t had a three-putt all week. the Offaly man was last in the field for putting in rough three, losing 3.370 strokes to the field, and 69th of 71 for the week.
He’s been finding fairways but lies 63rd for strokes gained approach and 52nd for proximity to the hole.
2021 World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession
(20th of 50 events in the PGA TOUR Season)
Bradenton, Florida February 25-28, 2021 Purse: $10,500,000 ($1,820,000) The Concession Golf Club Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,564 FedExCup Points: 550 (winner)
Third-Round Notes – Saturday, February 27, 2021
Weather: Sunny, with a high of 87. Wind WSW at 10-20 mph.
Third-Round Leaderboard
Collin Morikawa 70-64-67—201 (-15)
Billy Horschel 67-67-69—203 (-13)
Brooks Koepka 67-66-70—203 (-13)
Webb Simpson 66-69-69—204 (-12)
Things to Know
Collin Morikawa takes his second 54-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR in search of his first WGC title and fourth career TOUR victory
Brooks Koepka seeks to become the first multiple winner this season and capture second career WGC title
Billy Horschel looks to capture first individual title on TOUR since 2017 AT&T Byron Nelson
Seven-time TOUR winner Webb Simpson in search of his first WGC title in 21st appearance
Defending champion Patrick Reed seeks to win the WGC-Workday Championship at a different course for the third time
Rory McIlroy looks to join Dustin Johnson as the only player with all four World Golf Championships titles
Collin Morikawa
Marks second 54-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR (2019 3M Open/T2)
Made five consecutive birdies (Nos. 5-9) marking his career-best streak on TOUR (previously: four occasions/R3/most recent 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions); second day in a row with a 5-under 31 on the front nine
Has made 23 birdies through 54 holes; only one other player has made more than 23 birdies through first 54 holes of a WGC stroke-play event (Tiger Woods, 2013 WGC-Workday Championship)
Leads the field in Strokes Gained: Approach The Green (8.262) and Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (10.959)
With a win, would join Tiger Woods as the only player to win a major and WGC before turning 25
Making his third WGC appearance this week (best result: T20/2020 FedEx St. Jude Invitational) and seeks to become eighth player to win first World Golf Championships title in three or fewer WGC starts (most recent: Russell Knox/2015 HSBC Champions)
Looks to become the first American player to win in the state of Florida since 2019 The Honda Classic (Keith Mitchell); last five winners in Florida: Tyrrell Hatton, Sungjae Im, Paul Casey, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari
Owns two top-10s in eight starts this season (T7/Sentry Tournament of Champions, T7/Sony Open in Hawaii)
Billy Horschel (T2/-13)
2014 FedExCup champion finished birdie-eagle-par for 3-under 69; seeks first individual stroke-play title since the 2017 AT&T Byron Nelson
Leads the field in Putts (GIR) 74 on 44 and Scrambling (8 of 10)
Last time he was inside the top two on the leaderboard after 54 holes on TOUR he went on to win (2017 AT&T Byron Nelson)
Owns two top-10s in nine starts this season (T5/Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN, T7/Sony Open in Hawaii); makes 19th WGC appearance with two top-10s in 18 prior WGC starts (T9/2020 Workday Championship, T9/2019 FedEx St. Jude Invitational)
Brooks Koepka (T2/-13)
Started bogey-bogey and finished birdie-birdie-par for a 2-under 70
Has come from behind to win in four of his eight TOUR victories: most recent 2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open
Owns one title (2019 FedEx St. Jude Invitational) and six other top-10s in 17 previous WGC appearances
Seeks to become first multiple winner this season (2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open); no players has won multiple tournaments through 19 weeks, the longest streak to start a season since 1994 (Nick Price won his second tournament in the 21st week of the season)
Miscellaneous Notes
Seven-time TOUR winner Webb Simpson (4th/-12) recorded five birdies before making bogey on his final hole for a
3-under 69; seeks first WGC title in 21st appearance with best WGC result, 2nd/2019 FedEx St. Jude Invitational
Rory McIlroy (T5/-11) makes four birdies and an eagle for a 5-under 31 on the back nine; looks to become the second player to win all four World Golf Championships titles in his career, joining Dustin Johnson
Defending champion Patrick Reed (T5/-11) seeks to win the WGC-Workday Championship at a different course for
the third time (2014/Trump National Doral, 2020/Club de Golf Chapultepec); since 1983, Tiger Woods (WGC- Workday Championship/6 courses) and Dustin Johnson (THE NORTHERN TRUST/3 courses) are the only two players to win an event on TOUR at more than two different venues (non-majors and single course events)
Hideki Matsuyama (T7/-10) has yet to record a three putt this week and has extended his TOUR-leading streak without a three putt to 221 consecutive holes entering the final round
Trevor Simsby’s (T35/-2) hole-in-one at No. 6 (7 iron, 170 yards) was the 14th in tournament history and marks the second consecutive week on TOUR where a player making their first TOUR start has made a hole-in-one (Tae Hoon Kim/The Genesis Invitational)
With two eagles on the back nine today, it’s the seventh time Dustin Johnson (T42/-1) has made two eagles on either the front nine or back nine in a round in his career (most recent: R2/2020 THE NORTHERN TRUST)
Bogey-free rounds
R1 (2): Matthew Fitzpatrick (66), David Lipsky (70)
R2 (2): Yuki Inamori (68), Kevin Kisner (69)
R3 (3): Will Zalatoris (68), Aaron Rai (69), Bubba Watson (70)
