Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy produced another superb display during the third round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship to take a three-shot lead heading into the final day.
The world number three, now the 1.61 favourite to win the title, hit a four-under 68 to move clear of overnight leader Adam Scott and defending champion Dustin Johnson.
Scott produced a disappointing 73 on Saturday to slip down the leaderboard, while Johnson could only do marginally better with a round of 71. The American was on 10-under at the last but he bogeyed the 18th to give himself an uphill task on Sunday.
The duo sit on nine-under, two shots ahead of England’s Danny Willett, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson.
McIlroy started the day two shots off the pace but he birdied the first, fifth, eighth and 10th to give himself a great chance of winning the tournament.
He was unable to pick up any more shots over his last eight holes but stayed clear of the chasing pack to move closer to winning his 12th PGA Tour title, just days after changing his putting method to the ‘crosshanded’ approach.
Speaking after his round, the 26-year-old admitted he was delighted with his performance as he battled the difficult conditions at Doral.
“It was good. The wind was coming from a different direction so it made the course play a little bit tougher,” he said.
“I played a solid round of golf, didn’t make any mistakes. I felt really good about it. I’ll have to do the same thing tomorrow.”
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