McIlroy pulls ahead by a stroke at CJ Cup

Rory McIlroy made two eagles that made the rest of his day feel better Saturday at the CJ Cup in Ridgeland, S.C. His 4-under-par 67 was enough for a oneshot lead and a clear road to return to No. 1 in the world.

McIlroy hit a 6-iron that took the slope and rolled out to 2 feet for eagle on the par-5 fourth. He smashed a 376-yard drive and made his second eagle with a 30foot putt from the tightly mown grass off the green on the par-5 12th.

The rest of the round was even par, a mix of good birdies and sloppy bogeys, and it added to a one-shot lead over Jon Rahm, Kurt Kitayama, and K.H. Lee.

“You take away those two holes and I was even par for the rest of the round. Felt like it was a little scrappy coming in, but did enough to hang in there and shoot a solid score,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy was at 13-under 200, with hopes set on going back to No. 1 in the world for the ninth time in his career, and first time since the summer of 2020.

Having been there, all he said he truly cared about was winning.

Ditto for Rahm, who had to scrap his way through a series of bogeys for a 70. Rahm started the second round tied for the lead. He was five shots behind when McIlroy made his eagle on No. 12.

But the big Spaniard was solid as Gibraltar coming in at Congaree, picking off birdies with two good bunker shots and making a great escape for par on the 16th, where he purposely took free relief into the trees because of a tiny gap.

“A lot of battle today. I’m proud of it,” Rahm said. “I’m standing on 12 tee . . . I thought things could get ugly. But I just stayed on my own game and tried to make some birdies coming in and put myself in position for tomorrow.”

His only disappointment was not getting into the final group with McIlroy, a power group for a sleepy tournament in the low country.

Lee matched the low round of a day made challenging by some tees moved back and some pins in perilous positions. He also made amends on the 17th hole, the toughest at Congaree this week. Lee four-putted — the last three putts from 5 feet — for a double bogey Friday. This time he made one of only three birdies.

European — Ryan Fox and Yannik Paul share a two-stroke lead at the Mallorca Open in Palma, Spain, after both had a flawless third round on Saturday while Richard Mansell shot a courserecord 61.

Fox is aiming for his third European tour win of the year. Paul is searching for his first.

Paul had three eagles and three birdies in his 9-under 62, while Fox (65) had six birdies to also rest 16 under overall heading into the final day at the Son Muntaner Golf Club.

Overnight leader Dale Whitnell (68) and Marcus Armitage, with his second 8-under 63 of the week, are two shots back at 14 under.

LPGA — Atthaya Thitikul hit five birdies on the back nine and will take a one-stroke lead into the final day of the BMW Ladies Championship in Wonju, South Korea

The 19-year-old Thai player’s 5-under 67 in the third round left her at 15-under 201 overall with Lydia Ko and Andrea Lee both trailing by a shot.

Thitikul surged into the lead after her terrific run of birdies that included three in a row from No. 13.