Scottish Open: Rory McIlroy in the lead

Rory McIlroy made just enough birdie putts for a 3-under 67 in increasingly windy conditions on Saturday to maintain his one-time lead over Tom Kim in the Genesis Scottish Open.

McIlroy still didn’t make as much as he expected, a common refrain for most players, though he has raw numbers backing him up. One day after missing nine putts from 10 feet or closer, he missed an eagle attempt from just over 3 feet and a birdie putt from 5 feet while trying to build a tie at The Renaissance Club .

“I’m still in a good position,” said McIlroy. “Like I said, I feel like I left a few behind. But I mean it’s hard to be disappointed when you’re leading in the final day. I’ll definitely take it.”

McIlroy stood at 13-under 197 as he bids for his first professional win in Scotland. He has never finished in the top 10 in seven previous attempts as a pro, and has three second-place finishes in the Dunhill Links. He has four top-five finishes in British Opens in Scotland.

Kim made whatever he needed for a 67, and that kept him in the game. He said he didn’t hit the ball as well as the day before and was often out of position, but was very pleased to hang around and get a bogey-free round.

That was jeopardized on the par-4 18th hole when Kim missed the fairway to the right, found himself in a nasty left lie and walked away with a par and a fist pump after making his putt from about 10 feet.

“I felt like that putt was the icing on the cake because I fought so hard to get everything out of that round,” said Kim. “To be able to go off with a par … that was huge, of course, with momentum and all. Puts me in a good position to have a chance tomorrow.”

And then maybe it’s time everyone held on to their hats.

The start times have been moved to early Saturday morning due to the expected heavy rainfall in the afternoon. Sunday’s weather forecast predicted winds of about 30 mph, and that was before gusts. The start on Sunday is 06.45 am, even earlier than the third round.

That could bring others into the mix, and there’s a long list of candidates.

Tommy Fleetwood was the first group to come out and posted a 63 that put him at 11-under 199, two shots out of the lead and tied with Brian Harman (67). Fleetwood didn’t get off to the best start and has now played his last three nines at 32-32-31.

Canadian Open champion Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, BC is six shots behind McIlroy and leads Canadian with seven under par.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont. is two down through three rounds and tied for 69th place.

Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, was eight shots behind late on the first nine and very little went right. But he made a birdie on three of the last four holes and made a birdie from about 25 feet on the 18th hole, for a 67.

Scheffler was ranked 200 along with Shane Lowry (65), JT Poston (65), Eric Cole (64) and Byeong Hun An (69). An and Cole are the leading candidates to earn the three places available to the British Open for those not yet exempt.

“I think if you turned the lap the other way, I’d feel a little bit bad about my positioning,” Scheffler said. “But when you have it like I did today, where you have the good finish and steal at least two shots on the last two holes, that’s definitely a good feeling.”

Padraig Harrington, who started the weekend three shots behind, could only manage a 70 and fell six shots off pace. Harrington has said he would leave the PGA Tour Champions in a bid to consider the Ryder Cup depending on how he plays the Scottish Open and British Open next week at Royal Liverpool.

Also six shots behind was Sam Burns, who was the most unlucky. Burns was in a pot bunker to the left of the fairway on the par-5 10th when his shot hit the vetted side and stayed there. It stuck as if clogged, although the ball was not embedded. He had to play it from there and the ball went into the side again and back to the bunker.

He got the next out, missed the green and failed to get up and down to get triple-bogey 8.