{"id":4940,"date":"2025-09-07T03:49:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T03:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/4940\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T03:49:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T03:49:07","slug":"rory-mcilroy-stays-in-irish-open-contention-four-behind-leader-adrien-saddier-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/4940\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy stays in Irish Open contention four behind leader Adrien Saddier \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Still the principal character but cast in the role of pursuer headed into the final round of the Amgen Irish Open<\/a>, Rory McIlroy<\/a> \u2013 like an energy conductor to the charged galleries who filled the grandstands and every available mound around the Palmer North course at The K Club \u2013 remained in contention, four shots adrift of Frenchman Adrien Saddier, through 54-holes of the \u20ac5.2 million tournament.<\/p>\n

On a blustery day, with winds gusting to have players and their caddies second-guessing club selection and execution, a third round 68 for a total of 11-under-par 205 gave McIlroy back-to-back bogey-free rounds for which he credited his own patience in remaining firmly in the rear-view mirror of those ahead of him headed into Sunday\u2019s final round.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like Scottie Scheffler,\u201d quipped McIlroy of avoiding any bogeys for a second straight day in difficult conditions that nevertheless saw some players find a way to conquer the course. <\/p>\n

Saddier shot a 68 for 15-under-par 201 which gave him a one-stroke lead over Spain\u2019s Angel Hidalgo who had seven straight birdies at one point in a brilliant 63 that propelled him up 14 spots on the leader board to solo second.<\/p>\n

McIlroy, though, managed to keep a clean card where he fought hard for his pars at times and saw birdie chances miss at others.<\/p>\n

\"AdrienAdrien Saddier plays his second shot on the fourth hole on day three of the Irish Open. Photograph: Warren Little\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t really put myself in too many positions where it looked like I was making a bogey. I\u2019ve holed out well, I\u2019ve putted well from inside six feet this week, but it just seems like anything outside of that where I\u2019ve given myself birdie chances, I\u2019ve sort of hit the edge of the hole quite a few times and been a little bit frustrated with that,\u201d said McIlroy.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut overall, off the tee, it\u2019s been really good, really encouraging. And then my iron play for the most part has been really good too. So, for a week where I wanted to come in here and see some good signs in my game, I\u2019ve definitely done that. And tomorrow\u2019s all about getting out there and competing and trying to put a bit of pressure on the guys behind (in the final two-ball).\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI had to stay patient today because I felt like my golf was better than what I ended up shooting. I felt like I could have shot two or three better. But tournament golf, it\u2019s a bit of a marathon and you have to pace yourself and anything can happen over 18 holes tomorrow. So, we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

McIlroy\u2019s birdies came on the fourth, fifth, 14th and 18th, but he didn\u2019t manage to birdie two of the Par 5s on the homeward run, the 10th and 16th.<\/p>\n

For Shane Lowry<\/a>, there was also some frustration with the putter, his woes showcased by a closing horseshoe on the 18th where a short birdie putt became a shorter par putter as he shot 70 for a six-under 210 in tied-21st.<\/p>\n

\"ShaneShane Lowry on the first hole on day three of the Irish Open. Photograph: Jasper Wax\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

\u201cLook, it\u2019s easy to stand here and dwell. I missed a few putts today. As a golfer, you\u2019re trying to always see the glass as half-full. I feel like that\u2019s some of the best golf I\u2019ve played all year today. I\u2019m very upbeat about tomorrow, next week, three weeks\u2019 time. If I keep hitting the ball like that, I\u2019ll be all right,\u201d said Lowry, remaining upbeat.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI feel like the reason I\u2019m missing short putts is I\u2019m hitting them too hard. I\u2019m trying to jam them in the hole, my pace has been off. Even that one on the last, if it didn\u2019t catch the lip, it\u2019s probably two or three feet past. From two-and-a-half feet, you shouldn\u2019t be hitting it two feet past. It\u2019s my own fault and an adjustment that I have to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom McKibbin<\/a> had a disappointing third round of 74 for 213 in tied-38th while Alex Maguire carded a 73 for 215 in tied-52nd.<\/p>\n

For Saddier, who made his DP World Tour breakthrough when winning the Italian Open in June, the task is to finish the job and avoid looking over his shoulder for anyone, especially McIlroy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is still 18 holes to play, so a lot of things can happen. I\u2019m focused on tomorrow and what I have to do and what I can control. We\u2019ll see what happens,\u201d said the Frenchman of Sunday\u2019s final round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Still the principal character but cast in the role of pursuer headed into the final round of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,1393,43,1394,1395,3475,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-4940","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-irish-open","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-rory-mcilroy","12":"tag-shane-lowry","13":"tag-tom-mckibbin","14":"tag-top-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}