Tommy Fleetwood revives European Masters hopes as Rory McIlroy falters late
Saturday 31 August 2019 17:36, UK
Rory McIlroy's challenge for the Omega European Masters title was hampered by a poor finish to day three as Tommy Fleetwood staged a valiant fightback to revive his hopes.
Andres Romero will take a one-shot lead into the final round after he also recovered from a poor start to post a 66, which included three birdies and an eagle in a blistering four-hole stretch on the back nine, while Fleetwood battled back from three early bogeys to salvage a 68 and stay within two of the leader.
But McIlroy slipped three off the pace after finding water twice over the last five holes, including at the 18th, as a bogey-bogey finish saw him drop to 11 under with a 69, and he admitted afterwards his energy levels were low in his fourth tournament in as many weeks.
Romero, who surged into the mix with a career-low 61 in the second round, appeared to be plummeting out of contention when he bogeyed the second and double-bogeyed the fifth, but he responded with three birdies in four holes to get back to 10 under.
The Argentinian dropped another shot at 11, but he began his charge to the top of the leaderboard with a birdie at 13, which he followed with an eagle at the next, and further gains on the next two holes would earn him the outright lead as he signed for a 66.
Wade Ormsby looked set to share the lead with Romero before he bogeyed the last in a disappointing finish to his 67, while Fleetwood is a further shot adrift alongside halfway leader Gavin Green after both produced spirited rallies from erratic starts.
Fleetwood dropped only one shot over the first two days but bogeyed three of the first six holes on Saturday before beginning his revival with a welcome birdie at the ninth, and he took that positivity into the second half of his round as he carded four birdies in six holes from the 12th to get under the card for the day.
Green bogeyed three of the first five before matching Fleetwood's birdie at the ninth and, after another birdie at 11, the Malaysian eagled the 14th and parred home to return a creditable 68 which kept him in with a great chance of a maiden European Tour title.
McIlroy atoned for a bogey at the tough first with a birdie at the next, and the world No 2 picked up shots at the seventh, 10th and 12th to tie the lead before his challenge began to falter with a dreadful mistake at the par-five 14th, where a mammoth 415-yard drive left him just a wedge for his second, which he dumped into the water hazard short of the green.
The FedExCup champion pitched to six feet but missed the putt for par, although he bounced back with a birdie at the next before getting into trouble again at 17 and he was again unable to scramble a par.
His tee shot down the last again leaked right into the fairway bunker for the second day running, and he appeared to catch his second slightly heavy and found water again, but an impressive pitch and putt limited the damage to a bogey and he trudged off to hand in a 69.
Sergio Garcia was another contender to struggle on the outward half as he slumped to three over for the day after five holes, but the 2005 champion emulated the fightbacks of many of his rivals as he birdied four of the next six and then reeled off three in a row from the 14th.
The Spaniard's 66 lifted him to 10 under and within four of the leader, along with quickfire Italian Renato Paratore, who provided the outstanding highlight of the round when he holed a sensational 183-yard wedge for a hole-in-one at the 13th.
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