England’s Alex Fitzpatrick heads into the final round of the PGA Tour’s Truist Championship with a one-shot lead as Rory McIlroy’s title hopes end in North Carolina.
Fitzpatrick combined eight birdies and his only bogey to shoot a sensational seven-under 64 at Quail Hollow Club, moving him to 14 under and one stroke ahead of Norway’s Christopher Reitan.
Cameron Young shot a round of 63 on the day to move into third place, within two points of the lead, while Nikolai Hejgaard returned four points to take a share of fourth place with Im Sung-jae, who led the way.
J.J. Spaun and Justin Thomas are both 5 behind at 9 under par, and Tommy Fleetwood, who was in the final group with Yim and dropped one place at the halfway stage, is also in a tie for 6th place with a 1 under par 70.
Alex Fitzpatrick leads by one and looks for second PGA Tour win in as many months
McIlroy, a four-time winner of the tournament, was four strokes away from the halfway point, but after shooting a 75 in the third round, he fell off the leaderboard and was out of contention.
The repeat Masters champion birdied the first par-4, but dropped shots on both par-3s on the front nine, then suffered four consecutive bogeys on the back nine to drop further.
McIlroy missed a 10-foot eagle attempt on the par-5 15th and had to settle for a birdie, but the world No. 2 finished with three straight pars and entered the final day at 1 under.
Meanwhile, Im, last night’s leader, shot a 1-under 70 with the first of two bogeys on the par-5 15th oddly coming on the last hour hole.
In the greenside bunker in front of the green, Im’s attempt from the sand went long and bounced off the grandstand, before inexplicably rolling all the way around the green and landing in the same bunker just a few yards from the starting point.
“Having my brother by my side helped a lot” – Will young Fitzpatrick be able to pull off his first solo win?
Fitzpatrick is chasing his second PGA Tour victory and first solo victory after securing his card with a 69 and a one-stroke victory over McIlroy last month with his brother and 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt at the Zurich Classic.
“I think having my brother by my side helped a lot,” he says.
“He has done everything I wanted to do in the game, whether it was winning the Ryder Cup or winning a major, and he has done it.
“With him around and me being there for all of it, I felt like we really got a good feel for what it took and what the atmosphere was like.”
The 27-year-old admitted Sunday’s win “obviously means a lot” but said he was looking forward to the final round.
“I feel like over the last six months I’ve always tried to have the mindset that there’s more to life than golf. You know, I want to win. I want to give so much to win,” Fitzpatrick added.
“Also, if I don’t win tomorrow, I hope I can win someday. As long as I can go out and have fun, that’s all I can do.”
Alex Fitzpatrick had five birdies on the front nine and came out with a 30.
Second to the British player is the in-form Young, who won last week’s Cadillac Championship by six strokes. His 63 on Saturday was two short of the course record set by McIlroy in 2015.
After bogeying the final hole, Young said:
“But that wasn’t what I was thinking. I hit it somewhere to the right of the hole on the 17th and was trying to hit some good shots on the 18th. Unfortunately, the 18th was one of my few bad swings that day.”
Rye is still in contention in Myrtle Beach
In another PGA Tour event this week, England’s Aaron Rye posted a third-round 66 and is one shot behind the lead heading into the final round of the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic.
Halfway leader Rye made birdies on four consecutive holes from the turn and moved up to 15 under.
He is chasing American Mark Hubbard, who posted a 64 and advanced with five birdies in his final eight holes, including four in a row from No. 14.
American Kevin Roy was one stroke behind, and five-time major champion Brooks Koepka shot a 64, five strokes off the pace.
Who will win the Tourist Championship? You can watch the final round live on Sky Sports+ from 12.30pm on Sunday and on Sky Sports Golf from 5pm. Don’t have Sky? Get and stream Sky Sports without a contract.
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