Searching for an omen

The last time Rory McIlroy walked off the 18th green disappointed to be tied for the lead at -11, he followed it with the greatest moment of his professional life.

-11 was the mark after 72 holes in 2025 and McIlroy responded brilliantly to take control of the playoff with Justin Rose.

McIlroy will be reunited with Cameron Young; they played together in the opening two rounds and this scenario looked very unlikely in the early stages of Thursday when the American was in danger of missing the cut.

This is far from a head to head, though. Sam Burns played quite well today and is one back, while Shane Lowry is nicely positioned if he can get off to a flier.

Jason Day and Justin Rose are a veteran pairing at -8 while Scottie Scheffler and Haotong Li are a familiar combination at -7. 

They played alongside each other in the final round at Portrush last year and were spotted laughing and joking as Scheffler fired his way to glory.

Maybe that’s an omen too