Cam Davis has endured a nightmare finish to his third round as Rory McIlroy surged to the lead in the PGA Tour's rich CJ Cup tournament in South Carolina.
Defending champion McIlroy has Scottie Scheffler's world No.1 ranking in his sights after posting a four-under 67 third round on Saturday to reach 13 under.
He leads by a shot from world No.5 Jon Rahm (70), American Kurt Kitayama (70) and South Korea's K.H.Lee (66) at the Congaree course.
Australian Davis started the day one shot from the lead but finished it five shots behind McIlroy after stumbling home with five bogeys in his last six holes to be tied ninth.
World No.2 McIlroy was boosted by two eagles in his round as he seeks a 23rd PGA Tour victory.
McIlroy hit a 6-iron that took the slope and rolled out to 2 feet for eagle on the par-5 fourth. He smashed a 376-yard drive and made his second eagle with a 30-foot putt from tightly mown grass off the green on the par-5 12th.
"You take away those two holes and I was even par for the rest of the round. Felt like it was a little scrappy coming in, but did enough to hang in there and shoot a solid score," McIlroy said.
With a victory, he can go to No.1 for the ninth time in his career, and first time since the summer of 2020..
"Ultimately, I just want to win this golf tournament. If I win the golf tournament, then everything will take care of itself," McIlroy said.
"Tomorrow I need to go out there, set myself a score that I want to shoot, try to do that. Focusing on that, hope that that ends up with a couple of things, a trophy and getting back to the top of the world rankings."
Kitayama is the most curious of the contenders, a 29-year-old Californian who spent two years on the Korn Ferry Tour without much success, and then four years toiling across Asia and Europe, winning three times.
He battled Rahm in the Mexico Open and finished one back. He finished one behind Xander Schauffele in the Scottish Open. Saturday was the first time he had a share of the lead going into the weekend on the PGA Tour, and he held his own.
South Korean youngster Tom Kim had a 69 and was four shots back in his bid to win for the third time before turning 21. The 20-year-old has won three of his last five starts.
Davis's countryman Jason Day posted a third consecutive 69 to be tied 18th at six under.
with The AP
