Mcilroy’ssights onthirdtitleat Quailhollow
Rory Mcilroy is firmly in contention for a third Wells Fargo Championship title after a third-round 68 left him on seven-under-par.
The Northern Irishman is seeking an eighth top-10 finish in 10 appearances at Quail Hollow, a venue which provided him with a first PGA Tour title in 2010 and another in 2015 following a course-record 61 in round three.
The 31-year-old lies two shots behind leader Keith Mitchell after the American carded a 66.
Gary Woodland sits alongside Mcilroy after firing a 70, while England’s Matt Wallace is on four-under following a disappointing 73.
■ Chase Hanna is in contention to claim his first European Challenge Tour title after an eight-under-par round of 64 earned him a share of the 54-hole lead at the Dimension Data Pro-am.
The American finished eagle-birdie at Fancourt Golf Estate in South Africa to reach 15-under-par and climb to the top of the leaderboard alongside overnight co-leader Jaco Ahlers, who birdied the last hole to post a bogey-free four under par round of 68 and join Hanna at the top.
The duo share a two-stroke advantage over Sweden’s Henric Sturehed and Stanislav Matus, of the Czech Republic, who are tied for third on 13 under.
Heavy overnight rain meant scoring, on average, was not as low on the Outeniqua course as the first two days. However, Hanna bucked the trend to post the low round of the day to join Ahlers in a share for the lead in the final event of the South African Swing, which is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour.
“I played well,” Hanna said. “I had good control of my ball today. My ball striking was pretty average over the first two days but I’ve been putting pretty well all week, so I put together a nice round.”
Daan Huizing, of the Netherlands, and South Africa’s Wilco Nienaber share fifth place on 12 under, while South African George Coetzee, England’s Daniel Gavins, Swede Anton Karlsson and Denmark’s Niklas Nørgaard Møller all share seventh place on 11 under.
■ The USA take a narrow 7-5 lead into today’s final day of the 48th Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club in Florida.
Great Britain & Ireland, led by Scotland’s Stuart Wilson, were tied at 2-2 after the morning foursomes. All four games going to the 18th hole before being decided.
However, in the eight afternoon singles, it was the hosts who had the edge, securing victories in five of the matches, with Mark Power, Matty Lamb and Barclay Brown sealing wins for GB&I.
The match will be concluded today with four foursomes followed by 10 singles.