DUBLIN, OH — Rory McIlroy knew Muirfield Village was playing so hard that he set a goal of just trying to crack 70. He didn’t quite get there, and it was still 2-70 enough for him to share the lead Saturday at Memorial.
It was helped that Hideki Matsuyama went from leading to dropping off the leaders in a group of six holes. and that Patrick Cantlay went into the water and over the green on his way to the triple bogey. David Lipsky bogeyed the final two holes.
What remained amidst a few rumbles of thunder—but no weather delays—was an opportunity for everyone who had tee time on Sunday.
Thirteen players were separated by two shots. Nine others were only 3 shots off the lead.
Two closing bogeys from Lipsky gave him 72, while Si Woo Kim beat double bogeys for 71. They joined McIlroy at 6-under 210.
It’s the highest 54-hole progression since 1990, when the weather was so awful that the final round was canceled and Greg Norman won by 216 par.
McIlroy had trouble in the right raw in the 10th and had to scramble for a bogey. He pulled his tee on the par-5 11th and caught a break when he stopped before going to the creek. That’s when he set his target for an over-70 day by avoiding errors and catching some birdies on a few of the most unlikely holes.
It didn’t work out that way. He entered Birdie in the dangerous Par-3 12th. He also hit an approach to a pin-back on the 17th that went past the cup to 7 feet and set up one of only eight birdies on that hole entirely.
Just as he was on the 18th, he putt from the back of the green to the front pin approximately 10 feet from the cup, and he holed that par. McIlroy had many pitches between 5 and 8 feet, all significant on a day like this.
“I was really happy with how I scored goals there, how I kind of stayed there all day,” said McIlroy.
He’ll be in the final group with Kim, who put one of his last seven holes, keeping par from a frontal bunker on the 18th.
All of this was largely made possible by former Memorial Day winner Matsuyama, who smashed his first two holeshots and appeared to be on his way. Then it quickly collapsed. A bad chip in the eighth by the third, his triple-putt in the ninth, and his big miss in the third of the twelfth – his tee shot into the water, then over the green from the drop zone and triple-bogey.
A two-time winner of the Anniversary Award, Cantlay made only one critical error. He went green out of the rough on a par 4 sixth and came up short and hit the water, then went wide in the rough and didn’t get up and down, making a triple bogey.
Other than that, Cantlay made 14 mares, a pair of finches and a bogey. He and Matsuyama, despite the high number on every card, were a shot behind on Sunday.
The big move came from Keegan Bradley, who lowered the number. He left at 8:15 am and finished as the leaders were just starting to warm up. Bradley made nine birdies in his 65-year career, and is now only two shots behind.
Victor Hovland (69) and Mark Hubbard (72) were in the Big 1 shot behind at a 5-under-211. Hubbard fiddled his last three holes for the second time this week. He didn’t let it bother him on Thursday, and he felt the same way on Saturday.
“I’m not happy with my final again, but at the same time I made three good bogeys,” said Hubbard.
His strategy on a day like this: “Just try to make lots of birdies par 5 and don’t make multiples on solid holes.”
Justin Suh, the 36-hole leader, didn’t stay there long. He started a bogey, then found water at No. 3 for a double bogey. He didn’t make his first birdie—his only birdie—until the 14th hole. Suh scored 77.
He was still only three shots behind, along with Jordan Spieth (72).
Of the 22 players that are 3 shots apart, nine have not won on the PGA Tour. One of those was Lipsky, who he suspects will get too busy looking at the leaderboard.
“It’s very difficult to focus on anything other than your game,” he said.