Shane Lowry made a remarkable recovery from the trees on the ninth hole at Wentworth on day three of the BMW PGA Championship on a day where Ryder Cup team-mate Tyrrell Hatton stormed up the leaderboard with a Saturday 64 on the West Course.
The Offalyman’s shot went viral on social media for finding a small tunnel between two sets of trees and hitting a low draw through the green, where he got up and down for a par en route to a four-under-par 68. Lowry is on seven under, eight shots off the lead of Alex Noren and Adrien Saddier, who had a seven-under-par 65 to reach 15 under for the tournament.
The Frenchman led the Omega European Masters after 36 holes two weeks ago, and the Irish Open after 54 holes last week, so is looking to take the next step and win the DP World Tour’s flagship event.
Noren joined Saddier in the lead with a blistering finish of birdie, birdie, eagle for a 66. Hatton made a considerable move in his third round with eight birdies in 13 holes from the sixth hole, including four in a row from holes nine to 12 to shoot an eight-under-par 64 for 13 under.
RM Block
He took advantage of the struggling 36-hole leader Hideki Matsuyama (76), who has had a disappointing round with two double bogeys and a triple bogey. Justin Rose (76), Ludvig Aberg (73) also have had struggles as Wentworth showed its teeth. Viktor Hovland battled to stay in contention with a 71 that included a double bogey on the 12th, to lie three back on 12 under.
“I knew that there were opportunities at the end, if you can hit the right shots, and thankful I was able to hit it in fairly close on the last few and see the putts go in,” Hatton said.
Rory McIlroy’s week has not taken off after winning the Irish Open last week as he shot a 70 to lie in tied 53rd position on five under. McIlroy had six birdies in his round but much of the good work was undone by double bogeys at the ninth and 17th holes.
While he finally managed to birdie the 18th, his score for the week on the final two par 5s is four over, which has proven costly. Fellow Holywood native Tom McKibbin has had no such problem on the final two holes, playing them this week in five under, as he is one shot better than Lowry on eight under, seven off the lead.
