WGC-Cadillac Championship 2016: Saturday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

By virtue of a four-under 68 performance Saturday, world No. 3 Rory McIlroy seized the lead in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida, through three rounds of play.

The Northern Irish star holds a three-shot advantage over Dustin Johnson and Adam Scott, and he is in fine position to close out the tournament with a win Sunday. Here is a closer look at the top of the leaderboard, courtesy of WorldGolfChampionships.com:

Position	Player	Total	R3
1	Rory McIlroy	-12	68
T2	Dustin Johnson	-9	71
T2	Adam Scott	-9	73
T4	Phil Mickelson	-7	70
T4	Bubba Watson	-7	71
T4	Danny Willett	-7	72
T7	Rafa Cabrera Bello	-5	67
T7	Sergio Garcia	-5	67
T7	Anirban Lahiri	-5	71
T10	Smylie Kaufman	-4	71
T10	Rickie Fowler	-4	71
T10	Harris English	-4	71
T10	Charl Schwartzel	-4	72
T10	Charley Hoffman	-4	74

PGA Tour on Twitter also provided a look at McIlroy's bogey-free scorecard:

Scott entered the day with a two-stroke lead, but it was apparent early on that McIlroy was in better form.

Following a McIlroy birdie on No. 1, Scott bogeyed the fourth, which resulted in a tie atop the leaderboard. As seen in this GIF, the Aussie caught a bad break with a tough lie on his chip attempt:

McIlroy then seized sole possession of the lead with a birdie on the par-four fifth, but Scott attempted to answer on the sixth with great shots, such as this one:

He had to settle for a par, though, as his birdie putt went begging. According to Brian Wacker of PGATour.com, that was an issue for Scott throughout the day:

While Scott was somewhat inconsistent, McIlroy continued to shine on the seventh hole with this spectacular approach shot:

Both McIlroy and Scott birdied the eighth hole, and Rory added another birdie on the 10th to extend his lead even further.

Following a tough end to his first round with a bogey on the final hole Thursday, McIlroy went on an absolute tear in the second round and through the first half of the third, per Justin Ray of Golf Channel:

Scott's struggles continued with a bogey on the par-three 13th, but it didn't take him long to rebound, as an incredible shot from the bunker set the stage for a birdie on No. 14:

He had a chance at another birdie on the 16th hole, but the putter failed him again, as he narrowly missed out on a big opportunity:

That disappointment may have carried over to the 17th, which saw Scott post a bogey and fall one stroke behind Johnson.

Both players parred the 18th, which was a particularly impressive feat for McIlroy since it punctuated his unblemished round:

Much of the focus was on McIlroy and Scott throughout the day since they were the final pairing, but they were far from the only ones who turned heads Saturday.

Johnson kept himself in contention with shots like this lengthy putt to save par on the par-three ninth hole:

Johnson seemed poised to enter the final round in sole possession of second place, but a bogey on the difficult 18th hole left him in a tie with Scott at nine under.

Phil Mickelson also managed to remain in the hunt with a two-under round of 70, which leaves him at seven under for the tournament.

According to Ray, Mickelson has continued to build upon what has been a strong season for him to this point in comparison to 2015:

Mickelson is tied with two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson, who finished the third round with a one-under 71.

World No. 1 Jordan Spieth wasn't quite as fortunate, as the two-time major champion produced a somewhat disappointing one-over 73 and enters the fourth round in a tie for 17th place at two under overall.

Spieth was better off than friend and playing partner Justin Thomas, though, since he finished with a six-over 78.

That came after Spieth offered up some stakes for their round, via Twitter Friday night:

It is unclear if Thomas accepted, but he and Spieth embraced after what was tough round for both of them regardless:

In what is likely the most star-studded field of 2016 thus far, McIlroy has proven to be the class of the tournament.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, that has become commonplace for him at WGC events:

While McIlroy hasn't won a major since the 2014 PGA Championship, finishing the job Sunday and winning his 12th career PGA Tour tournament at the age of 26 would put him in some elite company, per Ray:

Based on his history of sealing the deal with a lead of three or more strokes entering the final round of tournaments, the odds are in McIlroy's favor:

The Masters are just one month away, and while McIlroy still needs a strong finish to his WGC-Cadillac Championship, he is displaying the type of form needed to win a green jacket.

A Masters victory would complete the career Grand Slam for McIlroy, but with other top players like Johnson, Scott, Mickelson and Watson enjoying a solid tournament as well, the level of competition promises to be high.

McIlroy has finished all three of his rounds thus far at Doral under par, and if he manages a repeat performance Sunday, then he figures to raise the trophy for the first time in his career.

Post-Round Reaction

McIlroy was undoubtedly the story of the third round as he surged into the lead by virtue of what was essentially error-free play.

When asked about avoid bogeys for the entire round, McIlroy seemed to be extremely pleased with his performance, according to ESPN.com's Jason Sobel:

The four-time major champion played so well, in fact, that Danny Willett believes the rest of the field needs a poor performance from McIlroy in order to have a chance Sunday, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com): "I think it's Rory's to lose, really. We're going to have to go out there and play clever and play aggressive when we can, and hopefully we can knock a few birdies off and post a good number."

Johnson is just three shots off the pace, and he was a bit more optimistic regarding his chances of catching McIlroy due to the unpredictability of the course, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com):

"

Anything's possible. With this golf course, there's trouble on just about every hole, so I just need to go out and keep playing like I'm playing. I feel like I'm playing really well. Today I missed a couple short putts and didn't really hole any putts and still shot 1 under on a tough day. So I'm pleased with that.

"

Johnson and Scott are very much within striking distance of McIlroy, and since McIlroy turned a two-shot deficit into a three-shot lead Saturday, there is still plenty of potential for things to get interesting in the final round.

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