Rory McIlroy’s quest to claim his 18th DP World Tour victory was abruptly stalled on Saturday when a late mis-step derailed his round for the second straight day.
McIlroy, playing in the sixth-to-last group, was charging up the leaderboard at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship for most of Round 3. After opening with a bogey on the par-4 1st hole at Yas Links, McIlroy carded six birdies over his next 14 holes, arriving at the par-5 18th at five under on the day and 15 under par overall.
But then: disaster. McIlroy’s tee shot found the water left of the fairway. After dropping, his third shot left him with a 219-yard approach to the hole. His next shot went in the front greenside bunker. McIlroy hit his fifth shot to 10 feet, but missed that bogey putt to tap in for a deflating double.
That dropped McIlroy to T13 at 13 under par — five shots behind Englishman Paul Waring’s lead at 18 under.
To add even further insult to injury, it was the second time in as many rounds that a botched hole late in the round had cost McIlroy.
During Friday’s second round, McIlroy was cruising at seven under through 16 holes before triple-bogeying the 211-yard par-3 17th. That hole didn’t even include a penalty shot. Instead, McIlroy went from greenside bunker to greenside bunker with his first two shots, was still short of the green with his third shot, then failed to get that one up and down. McIlroy bounced back with a birdie on 18 on Friday, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case in Round 3.
“Playing the last two holes in two over for two days in a row is not ideal,” McIlroy said after his round on Saturday, “Cost myself obviously a few shots there.
“The leaders weren’t getting away, which was nice and I was making a little bit of a charge,” he continued. “Just one mistake, that drive on 18, and with it playing so much into the wind.”
Despite the setback, McIlroy was holding out hope that a Sunday charge could still get the job done.
“Depending on what the leaders do, I can still go into tomorrow feeling like I have half a chance,” he said.
Low scores can definitely be found at Yas Links. Tournament leader Waring fired an 11-under 61 on Friday, and both Tommy Fleetwood and Thomas Detry have posted rounds of 62 this week.
You can tune in to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship’s final-round action on Golf Channel starting at 1:30 a.m. ET on Sunday.
