Rory McIlroy posted a 6-under 66 on Saturday, a round that featured four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 4th hole. Yet, the Ulsterman trails Matteo Manassero by three heading into Sunday’s final round.
McIlroy sits in a tie for second with Billy Horschel at 15-under par.
“I played well. Another solid day,” McIlroy assessed.
“My lowest score of the week, no bogeys. Just trying to keep up with Matteo, as well. I know I’m going to need another low one tomorrow to try to catch him.”
Manassero shot a 9-under 63 on Saturday, the lowest score of the week. He did so in wet conditions, which forced the DP World Tour to enact preferred lies during the third round. No wonder why Manassero, Horschel, and McIlroy combined to make 20 birdies and two eagles on Saturday.
“I did feel like we [fed off each other midway through] the round,” Manassero said.
“It’s great, guys like Rory and Billy, and the atmosphere at Wentworth; it’s such a fantastic show. Of course, you feed from that. You feed from playing with great players. So it was one of those really nice atmospheres.”
Round 4 Tee Times at BMW PGA Championship (All times ET):
3:15 a.m. — Rafa Cabrera Bello, Justin Rose
3:25 a.m. — Jeong Weon Ko, Jens Dantorp, Nacho Elvira
3:35 a.m. — Andrew Johnston, Nicolai Højgaard, Alejandro Del Rey
3:45 a.m. — Dan Bradbury, Jordan Gumberg, Adri Arnaus
3:55 a.m. — Adam Scott, Sami Välimäki, Ryan Fox
4:05 a.m. — Matt Wallace, Byeong Hun An, Connor Syme
4:20 a.m. — Victor Perez, Luke Donald, Joe Dean
4:30 a.m. — Jorge Campillo, Rickie Ramsay, Rikuya Hoshino
4:40 a.m. — Paul Waring, Fabrizio Zanotti, Sepp Straka
4:50 a.m. — Adrian Otaegui, Matthieu Pavon, Jordan Smith
5:00 a.m. — Danny Willett, Matti Schmid, Angel Hidalgo
5:10 a.m. — Tommy Fleetwood, Daniel Hillier, Oliver Wilson
5:30 a.m. — Tom McKibbin, Andy Sullivan, Shane Lowry
5:40 a.m. — Matt Fitzpatrick, Sam Bairstow, Ewen Ferguson
5:50 a.m. — Niklas Norgaard, Padraig Harrington, Aaron Cockerill
6:00 a.m. — Grant Forrest, Si Woo Kim, Alex Noren
6:10 a.m. — Rasmus Højgaard, Eddie Pepperell, Ugo Coussaud
6:20 a.m. — Darius Van Driel, Thomas Detry, Jeff Winther
6:35 a.m. — Marchus Kinhult, Yannik Paul, Robert MacIntyre
6:45 a.m. — Marcus Armitage, Harry Hall, Aaron Rai
6:55 a.m. — Antoine Rozner, Thirston Lawrence, Matthew Baldwin
7:05 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Billy Horschel, Matteo Manassero
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
