Rory McIlroy may have to wait for his next chance to show Brooks Koepka who's boss after the American withdrew from The CJ Cup in South Korea citing a knee injury.

The world's top two are due to meet again in the WGC HSBC Champions in China in just under a fortnight with interest in their rivalry heightened by the American's recent controversial comments.

Koepka (29), who has won four of his last ten major starts, refuses to countenance any rivalry.

"I've been out here for, what, five years," Koepka told AFP in South Korea earlier this week. "Rory hasn't won a major since I've been on the PGA Tour. So I just don't view it as a rivalry."

The defending champion in Korea, Koepka withdrew before the third round after aggravating a left knee injury a day earlier when he slipped on wet concrete.

The four-time major winner, who was playing his second event since stem cell treatment on the knee on August 25, shot a 3-over 75 on Friday at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island after opening with a 69.

"After consulting with my doctor, I have decided to withdraw from the CJ CUP and head home for further tests," Koepka said in a statement. "I appreciate everyone's concerns and support. I'll keep you posted as I learn more."

He returned to Florida to meet with his doctors, leaving his status for the HSBC Champions in two weeks in China uncertain. He missed the cut two weeks ago in his season debut at Las Vegas.

It was a good day in Asia for Irish hopes with Graeme McDowell carding seven birdies in a four-under 68 to go into the final round tied for seventh, six strokes behind Justin Thomas and Danny Lee on nine-under. Scores

Winner of the event in 2017, Thomas came to the par-five 18th looking to make birdie and take a three-stroke lead into the final round.

But he made bogey and South Korean-born New Zealander Lee holed a long eagle putt to card 68 to his 70 and tied for the lead on 15-under 201.

Australian Cameron Smith was in third place, three strokes behind, after a 68. Jordan Spieth shot 70 and was in a three-way tie for fourth, four behind.

On the Challenge Tour, Sharvin continued his run of impressively consistent form in the Hainan Open in China with a third-round 70.

The Ardglass golfer (27) is fifth in the Road to Mallorca standings with just three events to go in the race for 15 European Tour cards.

He has already locked up his card after a magnificent campaign featuring six top-five and eight top-10 finishes.

But he wants to win an event before the season ends and finish as high as possible in the standings, potentially earning more European Tour starts in 2019-20.

His 70, which featured seven birdies, helped him move up 16 places to tied 17th on one-under at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club on Hainan Island.

Italy's Francesco Laporta leads by two strokes from the Netherlands' Wil Besseling on 12-under par thanks to an eight-under 64.

Scores

He made the turn in 30 following back-to-back eagles at the par five sixth and the par four seventh and he almost carded a third eagle of the day on the 18th, but his approach shot span to within a hair’s breadth of the hole before he duly tapped in for birdie.

“It was just slightly right of the hole, but I won’t complain with a birdie,” he said. “It was a tough hole today; it was very windy and I almost made eagle, but a birdie was enough.

“I’m feeling good. I said that at the start of this week and I still feel the same. I played solid last week at the Italian Open, I’m feeling good and I would like the chance to win one tournament this year. Today was great and I hope to have another one tomorrow.”

The 29-year-old is projected to move to the top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings with a victory but he insists that is not on his mind, with simply playing well at the forefront of his thoughts.  

“I’m not thinking about winning the Rankings,” he said. “I just want to play well. My aim this week was a top ten and I’m in a good position to be up there. I just want to play well and see what happens.

“I’m going to have an afternoon off. I’ll go to the gym and then just have a couple of hours relaxing. I’ll have a nice dinner and not worry about practicing. I feel a bit tired so I’m just going to rest and get ready for tomorrow.”

The picturesque Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club has received high praise from numerous players this week and Laporta is no different, judging it as one of the best venues of the season.

“It is a lovely course,” he said. “The shape is just amazing. Everything is perfect because everyone is so kind here and the golf course is just unbelievable.

“The hotel is perfect, the course is brilliant and the fairways and greens are perfect. It’s one of the best courses of the year.”

Richard Bland, Sebastian Heisele, Adrian Meronk and Ben Stow are well-placed for a title challenge tomorrow, with the quartet sitting four shots off the lead on eight under par in tied fourth, with Meronk firing a seven under par round of 65 to move into contention.

The leader will get his final round under way at 11.00am local time alongside Besseling and Roussel, with the final round beginning at 8.55am local time.

Scores after round three:

204 F Laporta (Ita) 69 71 64,

206 W Besseling (Ned) 70 67 69, 

207 R Roussel (Fra) 69 68 70, 

208 A Meronk (Pol) 72 71 65, R Bland (Eng) 70 67 71, S Heisele (Ger) 70 70 68, B Stow (Eng) 69 73 66, 
209 Y Liu (Chn) 71 66 72, 

210 M Jordan (Eng) 67 70 73, Y Yeh (Tpe) 70 68 72, R Santos (Por) 73 69 68,

211 B Xiao (Chn) 69 68 74, A Rozner (Fra) 65 75 71, A Zemmer (Ita) 70 71 70, J Geary (Nzl) 68 73 70, F Wilkin (Nzl) 73 70 68, 

213 Cormac Sharvin (Nir) 69 74 70, C Crawford (Aus) 73 66 74, O Lindell (Fin) 70 72 71, M Antcliff (Aus) 71 71 71, O Lengden (Swe) 72 72 69, N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) 70 72 71, P Angles (Esp) 72 70 71, R Højgaard (Den) 73 70 70,

214 D Perrier (Fra) 68 70 76, H Chao (Chn) 71 72 71, Z Bai (Chn) 70 68 76, J Eom (Kor) 69 68 77, B Macpherson (Aus) 72 67 75, C Hill (Sco) 71 70 73,

215 E Johansen (Nor) 73 72 70, E Ferguson (Sco) 75 69 71, J Senior (Eng) 72 71 72, K McBride (Aus) 74 71 70, C Blomstrand (Swe) 71 70 74, A Cockerill (Can) 72 72 71, C Jin (Chn) 70 72 73,

216 D Coupland (Eng) 71 73 72, J Kölbing (Ger) 73 70 73, S He (Chn) 73 65 78, H Wu (Chn) 71 72 73, G Porteous (Eng) 70 72 74, M Baldwin (Eng) 71 74 71, U Coussaud (Fra) 71 72 73, R Enoch (Wal) 76 69 71,

217 R Kakko (Fin) 71 73 73, K Yuan (Aus) 71 73 73, N Paez (USA) 70 71 76, L Scalise (Ita) 73 70 74, J Sjöholm (Swe) 72 73 72, S Hak (Hkg) 72 70 75,

218 R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 72 72 74, D Van Driel (Ned) 74 68 76, J Ye (Chn) 73 72 73,

219 D Boote (Wal) 72 72 75, A Knappe (Ger) 72 69 78, O Farr (Wal) 72 72 75, J Glennemo (Swe) 71 73 75, 

220 J Zhang (Chn) 69 74 77, K Lin (Tpe) 71 72 77, J Lima (Por) 69 75 76, G Chen (am) (Chn) 72 72 76,

221 E Liu (am) (Chn) 71 73 77