He finished off a 4-under 67 with an 8-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole, getting up-and-down from a bunker to maintain a one-shot advantage after the third round.
It was another day for going low. Plenty of players did, most notably Bernd Wiesberger. The strapping 6'5" young Austrian provided the lowest score of the round, shooting a 65 that put him in the final group of a major for the first time.
Rickie Fowler was right in the mix again at another major, shooting a 67 that left him two shots behind McIlroy’s 13-under 200. Fowler has been the runner-up at the last two majors, and finished fifth at the Masters.
Then there’s Phil Mickelson, who already has five major titles. Lefty hasn’t won since the 2013 Open Championship but he’s clearly back on his game. He birdied four of the last five holes for a 67 and was three shots off the pace.
Australia’s Jason Day was also three strokes behind, having lost some ground despite a 69 that included a barefooted shot. After hitting his drive left of a creek at No. 2, he had to take off his socks and shoes and roll up his pants to get across the water. He wound up saving par.
37 players got into the 60s. Hunter Mahan joined Weisberger with a 65, matching the best round of the week, and seven guys shot 66. At one point, there was a five-way tie for the lead. When it was done, McIlroy was still on top but a dozen players were separated by only five shots, meaning the leader will have to work a little harder for this major than he did for the three first three championships
Graham DeLaet is tied for 10th after carding 68 in the 3rd round. He’s sitting 8-under, five shots back of McIlroy.
live scoring click http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/pga-championship/leaderboard.html
Bryan Angus ( files from AP,BBC, Reuters )
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