BMW

BMW PGA Championship – round three

-13 M Elvira (Spa), F Celli (Ita); -12 J Veerman (US), A Del Rey (Spa) JJ Spaun (US)

Selected others: -11 R McIlroy (NI), A Scott (AUS); -10 S Bairstow (Eng), M Wallace (Eng), R MacIntyre (Sco); -9 J Smith (Eng), M Fitzpatrick (Eng), A Rai (Eng); -7 R Fisher (Eng), S Lowry (Ire); -6 A Fitzpatrick (Eng); -5 D Law (Sco), J Rose (Eng), E Ferguson (Sco), T Hatton (Eng)

Rory McIlroy left himself two strokes behind the third-round leaders heading into the final day of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Northern Ireland’s world number two made a superb eagle on the 18th to stay in contention with a 72, leaving him on 11 under.

Spain’s Manuel Elvira and Italy’s Filippo Celli share the lead after both made birdies on the final hole to leave them 13 under.

But there is a congested leaderboard with 20 players within four strokes of the lead.

Alejandro Del Rey, JJ Spaun and Johannes Veerman are one shot behind with an exciting finish in store on Sunday.

McIlroy is attempting to win a record-equalling eighth Race to Dubai title and can boost his hopes by securing the second Wentworth title of his career.

“There are a lot of people around the leaders,” he said after another round in blustery conditions.

“I think the conditions over the last couple of days are the reason why no-one has got away from the pack, just because it has played so tricky and difficult.

“I’ll probably try not to look at the leaderboards on the front nine, and if I need to play a little bit more aggressively on the back, I’ll do it.”

BMW Championship – third-round leaderboard

-17 W Clark (US); -12 R McIlroy (NI), P Cantlay (US); -11 C Gotterup (US), G Woodland (US); -10 C Morikawa (US); -9 S J Im (Kor); -8 M McNealy (US), R Hisatsune (Jpn), E Cole (US), JJ Spaun (US)

Selected others: -5 R MacIntyre (Sco); -4 A Rai (Eng), M Fitzpatrick (Eng); -1 J Rose (Eng), A Fitzpatrick (Eng); +2 T Fleetwood (Eng)

Full leaderboard

Rory McIlroy struck a five-under 65 to move to joint-second on day three at the BMW Championship.

The Northern Irishman improved from a day two round of 69 that cost him his first-day lead, birdieing four of the last six holes to move up to second spot on 12 under.

American Patrick Cantlay of the United States is level with McIlroy, having shot a 66 on Saturday, while his compatriot Wyndham Clark extended his lead at Bellerive Country Club to five shots with a 65.

Clark double-bogeyed the opening hole but was superb thereafter, birdieing twice and then hitting an eagle on the eighth to go into the turn on two under.

He then birdied four of the next five holes before bogeying the last, returning to the clubhouse on -17 overall.

The home duo of Chris Gotterup and Gary Woodland sit on -11 overnight with compatriot Collin Morikawa on -10 and South Korea’s Im Sung-Jae on -9.

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and American world number one Scottie Scheffler struck 68s to finish in a group of eight on -15, with England’s Aaron Rai and Matthew Fitzpatrick a shot behind.

The experienced English pair of Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood both slipped down the field after over-par rounds. Rose shot 73, to leave him on -1 going into the final day, while Fleetwood’s 74 put him on +2.