Eubank Jr happy to Go for broke
The Northern Irishman, 27, began the third round in a five-way tie for the lead but found himself eight shots adrift in the space of eight holes after a double bogey on the first, three bogeys and a solitary birdie.
But, after covering the front nine at Le Golf National in 40, the four-time major winner needed 10 shots fewer to complete the back nine thanks to five birdies which left him tied for second on six under with South Korean Wang Jeunghun, two shots behind leader Thongchai Jaidee.
He said: “I just could not get anything going on the front nine.
“And with the way I’m feeling with my game, if it’s good it’s very good but if it’s bad it’s hard to get out of it.”
McIlroy revealed after his opening 71 he had whittled 17 swing thoughts down to four or five as he continued to erase “bad habits” which had crept into his game.
He added: “It shows the fragile state of my game but to come back the way I did was really pleasing. It was more resilience than anything.
“I’ve hit enough good shots this week to know it’s possible and I just needed to find a spark and get something going.”
McIlroy enjoyed a stroke of luck when his opening tee shot stopped inches short of the lake to the left of the fairway, but from an awkward stance on the edge of the hazard he could only pitch out short of the green.
He almost pulled his approach into the water and then duffed a chip from the fringe to run up a double-bogey six, which he followed with a bogey on the third after driving into another hazard.
A birdie on the fourth repaired some of the damage but bogeys on the seventh and eighth dropped him eight shots behind Wang, who birdied four of the first seven holes in pursuit of a third European Tour title of the season.
“I knew if I could hit a few fairways and greens the last few holes were not playing quite as difficult as usual due to the wind and the birdie on 11 was big,” added McIlroy, who also picked up a shot on the 13th before a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th.
“I wanted to hole that birdie putt on the last to get into the final group but any time you shoot five under on the back nine here is a great finish.” GENNADY GOLOVKIN – the world’s most entertaining boxer – is poised to fight Chris Eubank Jr in London on September 10.
The Kazakh KO king has an offer from UK promoter Eddie Hearn to face Eubank Jr at the O2 Arena in either September or October.
Golovkin, 34, will put his WBC, WBA and IBF world middleweight titles on the line against Brighton’s Eubank Jr after Mexican Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez backed out of a world title unification fight with him for September.
Eubank Jr, 26 (right) is expected to bank NICK PARKINSON £3million for challenging Golovkin and Hearn hopes to announce the fight this week.
He said: “Most terms are agreed. There’s always stuff that needs to be done but nothing appears to be a deal-breaker.
“It takes time to make a fight of this magnitude but if it happens, it will definitely take place in the UK.”
It will be Eubank Jr’s first world title shot and he will be a huge underdog but he has as much confidence as his dad – former two-weight world champion Chris Sr – which is why he is willing to fight knockout specialist Golovkin.
But American-based Golovkin will be a big step up for Eubank Jr, who made a British title first defence last weekend.