Rory McIlroy six off the lead in second ahead of final round at Genesis Invitational

Updated at 10.26

RORY MCILROY SITS six shots off the lead in second ahead of the final round of The Genesis Invitational on the PGA Tour.

Jacob Bridgeman is in control after a sizzling round of 64 on moving day at Riviera Country Club. The American is 19-under for the tournament.

• You can view the leaderboard here>

McIlroy signed for a two-under 69 today, with birdies on the first, sixth and 11th, and a bogey on the 10th.

The Holywood man was just one shot off the joint-lead held by Bridgeman and Marco Penge at the halfway mark, but the home hero had a superb Saturday. An eagle on the 11th was a highlight, while he had seven birdies and two bogeys.

South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter is a shot behind McIlroy in third, while Aaron Rai of England is one further back in fourth.

Shane Lowry also carded a round of 69 today to sit three-under for the tournament.

Having shot rounds of 73 and 68, the Offaly man signed for two-under on moving day after four birdies and two birdies (on the last three holes).

Lowry birdied the sixth, 10th, 11th and 15th, but will be disappointed to have dropped shots on holes 16 and 18.

Advertisement

Bridgeman, who played the iconic Riviera Country Club course for the first time on Wednesday, made his way around like an old hand, matching the tournament’s 54-hole record with a 19-under par total of 194.

“It was fun and easy,” Bridgeman said. “Kind of the best that the golf world ever gets.”

The 26-year-old American, who is chasing his first PGA Tour title, shared a one-shot overnight lead and was up by three after three birdies in his first four holes.

He picked up four strokes in the space of three holes to pull away for good.

After rolling in a 12-foot birdie at the 10th, he eagled the par-five 11th — where he landed his 259-yard approach a foot from the pin. He drilled an 11-foot birdie putt at the 12th.

“I had to make an adjustment mid-round,” he said. “At the beginning, I got off to a nice start, had a bunch of short putts and didn’t really have any 15-footers where the speed matters.

“Then, in the middle of my round, I hit a few (putts) way too hard and told my caddie, I’ve got to hit those a little softer, they’re not taking a break. After that, I feel like I hit a lot of good putts.”

McIlroy, meanwhile, could never find the right touch on Riviera’s tricky greens.

The Northern Ireland star, who completed his career Grand Slam at the Masters last year, admitted to some frustration as he found himself unable to put pressure on Bridgeman. 

- ‘Really, really difficult’ -

“The greens got really fast there at the end of the day,” McIlroy said. “You’re grinding over three-footers and all of a sudden you get one that you think you can have a bit of a run at and if you hit it a little bit too hard …”

“I found the greens really, really difficult today,” added McIlroy, whose difficulties were epitomised at the par-five 17th, where he was on the green in two but ultimately missed a four-and-a-half-foot birdie putt.

McIlroy said he’d aim for a fast start on Sunday.

“I’m hitting the ball well. If I can keep driving it like that, putting the ball in the fairway, just giving myself chances and go from there — that’s all I can really do,” said McIlroy, who was one stroke in front of South African Aldrich Potgieter.

The 21-year-old Potgieter, who claimed his lone PGA Tour title to date at the Rocket Classic in Detroit last year, had an eagle and six birdies in his six-under 65 and at 12-under was one clear of England’s Aaron Rai, who shot a 66.

World number one Scottie Scheffler, who pushed his streak of PGA Tour cuts made to 68 without a stroke to spare after an erratic two days, climbed the leaderboard with a five-under 66 for five-under 208.

Scheffler, who said this week he has a “weird” relationship with Riviera, made four of his six birdies on the back nine, shaking off his lone bogey with the help of solid putting.

“At times it still felt weird,” he said. “The golf course is gettable in the morning, the greens are fresher. So I was able to hole a few putts, which is key.”

Elsewhere, Cavan’s Leona Maguire finished tied for 32nd on 10 under par at the Honda LPGA tournament.

World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul won at home in Thailand on Sunday, shooting 24-under par, one stroke ahead of Japan’s Chizzy Iwai.

Additional reporting by AFP