World No. 1 spot in Rory McIlroy’s sights as he takes lead of CJ Cup heading into final round at Congaree

The world No. 1 spot is within touching distance for Rory McIlroy after he surged to the top of the leaderboard at the CJ Cup.

With Scheffler out of contention at even-par after a round of 74, McIlroy has the destiny of the No. 1 spot in his own hands after a round of 67at Congaree Golf Club.

“I just have to keep reminding myself that I am playing really well right now,” McIllroy said. “I am in control of my golf ball for the most of it, it was a little scrappy towards the end tonight.

“I can draw on my experiences here over the last three days and my experiences over the last six or seven months as I have played some really good golf, and really good golf when I have needed to.

“Tomorrow is another day where I have an opportunity to win another event.

“I am 13-under and will set myself a target and shoot for that and try not to worry about what others around me are doing, and hopefully that number I set myself will be good enough.”

Third Round Leaderboard

• 1. Rory McIlroy, 13-under
• T2. Jon Rahm, 12-under
• T2. Kurt Kitayama, 12-under
• T2. KH Lee, 12-under
• T5. Taylor Moore, 10-uder
• T5. Aaron Wise, 10-under
• T7. Tom Kim nine-under
• T7. Brendon Todd, nine-under

Jon Rahm is likely to be McIlroy’s biggest obstacle to victory, as the Spaniard sits at 12-under.

McIlroy made two eagles in his round on Saturday, but there was hope for the rest of the field as he made three bogeys and his usually brilliant driving was occasionally off colour.

The Northern Irishman made his first eagle of the day on the fourth after an iron approach from 227 yards came to rest two feet from the hole.

A further birdie followed on seven after he lasered an iron to nine feet and rolled in the putt.

McIlroy devoured the back nine over the first two days, and he looked set to catch fire once again when making an eagle on 12. His putting has been excellent this season and he rolled in a stunner from off the green to take the outright lead.

He did not have his best stuff coming home, with a couple of hooked drives on 16 and 17, the latter of which cost him a shot. But he was able to coast round in 67 for the second day in a row to get to 13-under.

KH Lee put himself firmly in the mix heading into the final 18 holes as a round of 66 moved him to 12-under, the same score as Kurt Kitayama and Rahm.

Wyndham Clark is off the pace at six-under, but produced the moment of the day with a hole-in-one on the 10th.

Tommy Fleetwood continues to show an uptick in form, and he produced a fine round of 66 on Saturday to get to eight-under.