McIlroy and Lowry face five shot final round deficit in bid to retain Zurich Classic of New Orleans
Rory McIlroy eagled the last but the Masters champion and partner Shane Lowry must erase a five-shot deficit in foursomes to retain the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
The title holders produced a barrage of brilliant golf in the third round fourballs, racing to 10-under-par through 15 holes before both men bogeyed the short 17th.
They’d bogeyed the last two holes in round two, but despite facing a 90-minute weather delay before facing his putt, McIlroy rolled in a 30-footer for eagle at the last for an 11-under 61.
“I think the secret is not thinking about it in those 90 minutes,” McIlroy said of the eagle. “We had a bit of lunch, and we were watching some highlights from last year and talking about a bunch of -- where we're going to go for dinner tonight.”
The eagle briefly gave them a share of the lead on 22-under, but Ben Griffin and the in-form Andrew Novak had nine holes to play and also carded a 61 to lead by three shots on 27-under from Jake Knapp and Frankie Capan III (60), and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune and Takumi Kanaya (61).
With the Hojgaard twins Nicolai and Rasmus tied for fourth with Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo, McIlroy and Lowry enter the final round in a three-way tie for sixth.
Five strokes is a formidable deficit in foursomes. Still, the Irish duo has momentum and vast experience over the leading quintet of pairings, and Knapp is the only player with a PGA Tour win.
“I feel like we played pretty well today,“ Lowry said. “We went out and we did what we had to do.
“Look, we knew we were going to have to go out and shoot a really low score today. There's not much wind out there, and the course is fairly gettable, and in four-balls you want to be shooting at least 10-under.
“I was pretty happy to have Rory go out and eagle the last there. It makes dinner taste nicer and kind of puts us in a great position going into tomorrow.”
Lowry was speaking hours before Novak and Griffin matched their 61 and he admitted McIlroy has been trying to conserve energy after catching a cold following his Masters win and subsequent celebrations.
“Rory came in here a bit under the weather, so he's trying to rest up as much as he can,” Lowry said
McIlroy added: “But as long as we keep having fun out there, that'll be the best way for us to get the best out of ourselves.”
They will need to shoot an exceptional score in foursomes to catch the leaders and become the first team to retain the title at TPC Louisiana.
In his last start in the RBC Heritage, Novak was only beaten in a playoff by Justin Thomas.
But after watching the Masters, Griffin is aware his lead with Novak can evaporate quickly.
“I mean, the point is there is no safe lead on the PGA TOUR,” Griffin said. “You've got to stay aggressive. There are a lot of intimidating tee shots and par-3s out here.
“Both of you are going to have to step up on those shots tomorrow and execute.
“Yeah, Rory is an example of how things can change fast out here and we have to make sure we keep building on our lead and try to win by a lot.”
In the opening women’s major of the season, Korea’s Haeran Ryu shot a four-under 68 and Japan’s Mao Saigo a 69 to lead The Chevron Championship by a shot from Lindy Duncan (70) on nine-under in Texas.
Leona Maguire made five bogeys and two birdies in a 75 to share 64th on five-over at The Club at Carlton Woods.
