There are 18 holes left of the 2023 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, and it’s anyone’s ballgame.
Heading into Sunday, there are 31 players at or within four shots of the lead.
Atop the leaderboard, however, are Rory McIlroy, Si Woo Kim and David Lipsky. Lipsky bogeyed Nos. 17 and 18 to drop out of the final group.
Kim has shot under par in all three rounds thus far, including a 1-under 71 on Saturday. McIlroy, who’s looking to win for the first time since the CJ Cup in the fall, made a late birdie at No. 17 to get to 6 under.
Some of the big names within striking distance include Viktor Hovland (5 under), Collin Morikawa (4 under), two-time Memorial champion Patrick Cantlay (4 under), 2014 Memorial champ Hideki Matsuyama (4 under), Sungjae Im (3 under), Jordan Spieth (3 under), Matt Fitzpatrick (2 under), Rickie Fowler (2 under) and 2020 winner Jon Rahm (2 under).
Sunday is going to be a good one.
If you missed any of Saturday’s action, no worries, we have you covered. Here’s everything you need to know from the third round of the Memorial Tournament at Jack’s Place.
Memorial: Sunday tee times | Photos
Rory McIlroy earns 54-hole co-lead
Since the calendar flipped to 2023, the men’s game has been centered around two players: Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler. The Texan has won twice — the WM Phoenix Open and the Players — while the Spaniard has won four times — the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the American Express, the Genesis Invitational and the Masters.
McIlroy won the CJ Cup in the fall, but it’s been an up-and-down season since. Now, he has a chance to enter the winner’s circle.
Thanks to a 2-under 70 on Saturday, which included a clutch par save on 18, McIlroy will play in the final group alongside Kim on Sunday.
HUGE par putt on 18 💥@McIlroyRory heads into Sunday at 6 under @MemorialGolf pic.twitter.com/O73qr2KVCJ
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) June 3, 2023
His putter has awoken from its slumber, as McIlroy has gained 3.125 strokes on the greens, good enough for 17th in the field.
If that continues on Day 4, don’t be surprised to see McIlroy shake Jack’s hand off 18 Sunday afternoon.
Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa are lurking
After shooting back-to-back rounds of 71, Hovland made a move Saturday afternoon, shooting a 3-under 69.
It was an up-and-down round for the Norwegian through 14 holes, making three birdies and three bogeys. However, he got back on track at the par-5 15th making birdie, then added two more on Nos. 16 and 17 before a nice two-putt at the last to solidify his 3-under effort.
Make it five birdies for Viktor Hovland 🐦
He moves to 4-under after an impressive hole out @MemorialGolf. pic.twitter.com/ap6ka2asPW
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 3, 2023
“It felt like I hit it a little bit better today than I had the first couple of days,” he said. “Just a little disappointed with some of the short-game shots that I hit today. But after the finish that I had, going 3-under the last four, that was awesome.”
Hovland sits at 5 under, one back of the lead.
As for Morikawa, he was coming off rounds of 71-73 which left him at even par through 36 holes.
He used a third-round 4-under 68 to storm up the leaderboard and is in position to win for the first time since the 2021 Open. He’ll tee off Sunday two back.
Keegan Bradley makes a huge move
Keegan Bradley made the cut on the number Friday afternoon and needed something special Saturday morning to get into contention.
He answered the call with a 7-under 65 and is now 4 under for the tournament, two back of the lead.
Bradley did most of his damage on the front nine, birdieing Nos. 2, 4, 7, 8 and 9 to make the turn with a 5-under 31. The scorecard was a bit more up and down on the back, as Bradley made birdies on Nos. 10, 11, 15 and 17 but gave a few back on Nos. 12 and 18.
“I basically made every putt I looked at today,” he said after his round. “But I’ve been working on this feel the past couple weeks and I’ve sort of left it on the range and tried to play, and then today I just said screw it and I went out there and I had this — the feel that I’ve been working on, and I just hit a lot, a lot more quality iron shots.”
Bradley is hoping to win for the second time this season, as he won the Zozo Championship in October.
Sunday's weather forecast
According to Windy.com, Sunday in Dublin is going to be a perfect day for golf. The temperature is expected to top off at 86 degrees with the wind reaching 12 mph with gusts up to 20 mph possible.
