McIlroy's 'Moving Day Momentum'... Advances to 3rd Place, 2 Strokes Behind

Airesio Open 3R 6 Under Par Daily Best
Long Leads, Smith 2nd, Sharma Tied 4th
Lee Minwoo and Hojel Tied 10th, Rory Tied 13th

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) is experiencing a 'Moving Day surge.'

On the 9th (Korean time), at The K Club (Par 72, 7,441 yards) in Straffan, Kildare, Ireland, continuing the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) Horizon Irish Open (total prize money $6 million) 3rd round, he shot a daily best 6-under-par 66, jumping up to 3rd place (11-under-par 205). Hurly Long (Germany) leads (13-under-par 203), Jordan Smith (England) is 2nd (12-under-par 204), and Shubhankar Sharma (India) and others are tied for 4th (10-under-par 206).

Rory McIlroy is teeing off at the 3rd hole of the 3rd round of the Irish Open. [Kildare, Ireland=AP·Yonhap News]

Starting from a tie for 26th place, 8 strokes behind, McIlroy collected 7 birdies (1 bogey). He reduced 2 strokes in the front nine with birdies on holes 1 and 4, then caught 3 birdies early in the back nine on holes 10, 12, and 13. After a brief pause with a bogey on the 16th hole (par 5), he showed fierce stamina with consecutive birdies on holes 17 and 18. His long drives averaged 324.5 yards, and his putting was notable with 1.6 putts per green in regulation. He is 2 strokes behind the leader, aiming for his 3rd DP World Tour win of the season and 17th overall since the Genesis Scottish Open last July.

Long reduced 2 strokes to take the top spot on the leaderboard. He is ranked 252nd in the world and has yet to win a tournament. Ryan Fox (Australia) and Ross Fisher (England) joined the group tied for 4th. Korean-Australian Minwoo Lee shot 3-under-par with 7 birdies and 4 bogeys, tied for 10th place (9-under-par 207) along with Billy Horschel (USA). Shane Lowry (Ireland) finished the 3rd round tied for 13th (8-under-par 208).

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