Rory McIlroy Fails to Gain Ground on Leaderboard Saturday at British Open 2017

Rory McIlroy shot a one-under 69 on the third day of the 2017 British Open at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, on Saturday.

McIlroy is now two-under overall and tied for 11th, nine strokes behind Jordan Spieth on the leaderboard, entering the final round on Sunday, per the tournament's official website.

Unlike his early toils in Round 1, when he hit five bogeys over the first six holes, McIlroy made a smooth start on day three. He hit a birdie on the first, thanks largely to quality approach play like this, via the tournament's official Twitter account:

Par followed on both the second and third holes, as McIlroy appeared determined to eat into the leader's scores.

The 28-year-old was even better on the par-three four, clipping in this classy birdie putt, via Sky Sports Golf:

Every birdie is valuable, but this one gave McIlroy a distinction he hadn't enjoyed during the first two days of this Open, according to ESPN's Jason Sobel:

McIlroy's fast start was part in testament to the excellent weather on the links. Kyle Porter of CBS Sports felt McIlroy would have gained confidence from seeing other players boss the course earlier in the day:

Confidence was obvious in McIlroy's game from the way he was attacking the front nine. A strong start meant he was now three-under, just three strokes off the lead.

He was also in a five-way tie for fourth, keeping pace with Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson among others.

It wasn't long before he joined Branden Grace in third after rolling in another birdie putt, this one on the par-four fifth. Now McIlroy was just two off Spieth in the lead.

PGA Tour writer Jonathan Wall could see the swagger in McIlroy's game:

His strut may have been back, but McIlroy stumbled on the seventh, where he had to settle for a bogey. A weakly struck chip from the rough doomed his efforts to save par, leaving him four off the lead and in a tie for fifth.

A second bogey in a row slowed McIlroy's progress to a timid crawl. He did manage to pick up the pace somewhat by closing out the front nine with another birdie.

Unfortunately, the slide resumed when McIlroy began the back nine with a double bogey on the 10th. The updated leaderboard showed the damage these gaffes did to McIlroy's score:

A run of four pars steadied things somewhat. McIlroy needed more, though, and got it with a birdie on the 15th.

He set up the birdie putt with this fine approach shot:

Pars followed on the 16th and penultimate hole before another par on the 18th gave McIlroy a solid score for the day. But it was still not the kind of round he needed to keep pace with those at the top.

He is now unlikely to snap his struggles and win his first major since 2014.

All scorecard information per the tournament's official website.