Rory McIlroy at Barclays 2016: Saturday Leaderboard Score and Twitter Reaction
Inconsistency plagued Rory McIlroy once again Saturday at The Barclays, as he shot an even-par 71 in the third round at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York.
McIlroy's third-round showing put him at two under overall for the tournament, and he entered the clubhouse in a tie for 23rd place. Here is a look at the current leaderboard:
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The world No. 5 started the day well with three birdies in his first five holes, but his inability to avoid bogeys prevented him from gaining ground on the leaders. Here is a rundown of McIlroy's entire third-round scorecard:
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 36 |
| Round 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 35 |
| Overall | -3 | -4 | -3 | -3 | -4 | -4 | -4 | -4 | -3 | -3 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 |
| Round 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 |
| Overall | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 |
McIlroy entered the day six strokes off the pace, and early indications suggested he might put himself in contention ahead of Sunday's fourth round.
The Northern Irishman birdied each of the first two holes to move to four-under, before a bogey on No. 3 dropped him back down to three-under.
Rory managed to get that stroke back just two holes later with a birdie on the par-four fifth, which set the stage for a potentially great round.
The four-time major champion's third birdie of the day would prove to be his final one, though, as he failed to capitalize on opportunities to lower his score throughout the remainder of the round.
McIlroy bogeyed the ninth hole as he made the turn before carding another bogey on the par-four 10th.
The 27-year-old struggled to get his approach shots close from that point forward, and with his putting continuing to miss the mark, he was unable to sink long and intermediate-range birdie attempts.
McIlroy recently switched to a new putter, and prior to the start of The Barclays, he explained the decision and what he hoped to accomplish by making it, according to Jonathan Wall of PGATour.com:
"It was more to do with what my hands were doing, sort of going up and left. And obviously with working with Dave [Stockton] over the last few years, it's very much left-hand leading, but the left hand was leading but it was going this way and left and up.
[...]
I feel like with the putter change to a mallet, it doesn't encourage that face to close that much, which is the bad putt I was getting. So just sort of encourages the face to stay a little more square through impact.
"
While the change may prove to be a smart one for McIlroy moving forward, it didn't appear to make much of a difference for him on the greens Saturday.
Even if McIlroy starts to find his putting stroke Sunday, he will be hard-pressed to leapfrog a large portion of the field and steal the victory at Bethpage Black.
Not only does he need to shoot a low round in his own right, but he needs those in front of him to falter as well.
Even if a near miracle doesn't happen for McIlroy, though, he has a chance to end the weekend on a high note by slipping inside the top 15 or even the top 10.
While that may not necessarily be the desired result, turning in solid finishes is important in terms of remaining in contention in the FedEx Cup.
Even though McIlroy has been far from his best, he has at the very least kept himself in a fairly comfortable position in the playoffs.
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