The best field of the 2022-23 PGA Tour season (to this point) is certainly living up to expectations, but there are plenty of chasers looking to crash the party of big names.
Moving day was Saturday at the 2022 CJ Cup in South Carolina at Congaree Golf Club, and it should be no surprise to see Rory McIlroy sitting at the top of the leaderboard heading to Sunday. He’s the defending CJ Cup winner, though the event was at The Summit in Las Vegas last year. McIlroy has been arguably the best golfer in the world the past few weeks, and a win would move him back into the top spot of the Official World Golf Ranking.
However, with 18 holes to play, there’s plenty left up for grabs.
Here’s a breakdown of the third round of the CJ Cup.
Guess what? Rory is at the top (again)
It has become no surprise to see Rory McIlroy near the top of the leaderboard in recent weeks.
Whether it’s major championships, FedEx Cup Playoffs, DP World Tour or PGA Tour events, McIlroy is playing some of the best golf in the world, and he again has positioned himself for another win in his first start on Tour in the 2022-23 season.
McIlroy carded his second straight 4-under 67 and sits in the lead at 13-under 200. He played the par 5s in 5 under on moving day and had two eagles, three birdies and three bogeys during his round.
“I felt I was trying to make birdies, but just every time I took a step forward, I took a step back,” McIlroy said. “It was just, I guess it was just the way the course – the course played a little bit 2 tougher today than the previous two days.”
Yet it was enough to surpass 36-hole leaders Jon Rahm and Kurt Kitayama, who sit one shot behind at 12 under heading to Sunday. K.H. Lee, who tied the low round of the day Saturday with a 5-under 66, is also at 12 under.
For McIlroy, he said he’s not focused on the world ranking.
“The ranking will just take care of itself if I do what I want to do,” McIlroy said. “Ultimately, I just want to win this golf tournament. If I win the golf tournament, then everything will take care of itself. So for me, tomorrow I need to go out there, sort of set myself a score that I want to shoot, try to do that.”
Kurt Kitayama seeking first win
It has been a busy past three weeks for Kitayama.
Two weeks ago, he missed the cut at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas. He then flew to Japan and made the cut, finishing T-29. Now, the 29-year-old is within striking distance of his first Tour victory with 18 holes to play.
“I feel pretty good,” Kitayama said. “I hit it well, gave myself some good opportunities. Just not going to think too much about today’s round. Overall, feel pretty good still.”
As mentioned, Kitayama co-led after the second round but wasn’t able to get much doing during a third-round 1-under 70. He finished second twice last year, once at the Genesis Scottish Open and a T-2 at the Mexico Open at Vidanta, when he finished runner-up to Rahm.
However, come Sunday, Kitayama will see whether he can play spoiler.
“You know, you want to play against the best, and it’s a good leaderboard up there,” Kitayama said. “Going to have to play good tomorrow.”
Rahm finishes strong
It was going to be hard for Rahm to follow up what he did Friday after shooting 62, but a birdie on the par-4 17th, which is playing as the most difficult hole of the tournament, was enough to move him within a shot of the lead on moving day.
Rahm’s birdie was only the third of the day at the difficult hole, and he did it with an up-and-down from 190 yards out of a fairway bunker. He made the 21-foot, 2-inch putt and gave a subtle fist pump.
“A lot of battle today. I’m proud of it, very proud of it,” Rahm said. “I mean, I’m standing on 12th tee, I think I was four back with people looking at par 5s and the tee up on 15, I thought things could get ugly. But I just stayed on my own game and tried to make some birdies coming in and put myself in position for tomorrow.”
Beautiful birdie at 17 🐦@JonRahmPGA is T2 heading into Sunday. pic.twitter.com/QHb7f14GZp
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 22, 2022
Rahm won his last start in Spain on the DP World Tour, and he’s in position to win on the PGA Tour for the first time since April in Mexico. That’s in large part to his finish in the third round, which included three birdies during his final seven holes to get back into contention. He was 2 over after 11 holes with three bogeys before his strong finish.
“I’m going in confident tomorrow,” Rahm said. “Today was a battle, and I’m hoping tomorrow’s a little bit better. It’s going to take a low one as usual. This is the PGA Tour, somebody will come out hot on Sunday, and I’m hoping that’s me. I’ve done it my last few Sundays, so I’m hoping I can do three in a row.”
Put down a 1
Wyndham Clark only needed one shot to get his ball in the hole on the par-3 10th.
From 181 yards, he holed his shot for an ace. It was big for his score, too, as Clark turned in 2-over 38, so the hole-in-one got him back to even for his round. He followed it up with a birdie on the 11th hole.
ACE ALERT 🚨@Wyndham_Clark cards a 1️⃣ at No. 10. pic.twitter.com/ei0WispHUe
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 22, 2022
A look at the bottom of the leaderboard
The CJ Cup has 15 of the world’s top 20 players in the field, but not everyone is near the top of the leaderboard.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who went through a putter switch earlier this week, shot 3 over on moving day and is T-47 at even par. Also at even par is Rickie Fowler, who almost broke through last week at the Zozo Championship, as well as Justin Thomas and Hideki Matsuyama.
A bit lower, Jordan Spieth, who went 5-0-0 at the Presidents Cup last month, is 3 over and T-63. Sahith Theegala, one of two rookies to qualify for the Tour Championship in August, is at 9 over and T-74.
