McIlroy nails some tweaks and syncs his swing to move back into the mix at Canadian Open

The Holywood carded a third-round 65 in Hamilton.

Rory McIlroy hit this tee shot on the fourth hole at the Canadian Open. Pic: Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP

In a part of Canada that’s fondly known as the Hammer, Rory McIlroy nailed a couple of key third-round tweaks to get his game back in sync and to put himself on the verge of contention at the RBC Canadian Open.

There was certainly some hammering from the 35-year-old who drove the ball so much better in his third-round 65 at Hamilton Golf and Country Club after a fitful Friday afternoon had sent him straight to the range at sunset. But there was some sublime subtlety to his game too, McIlroy using all of his tools in a Saturday lunchtime which featured an eagle and five birdies and could have been even better but for two back-nine bogeys.

Nonetheless McIlroy was sitting comfortably inside the top 10 within reach of midway frontrunners Ryan Fox and Robert MacIntyre. Perhaps more importantly, with a key stretch of the season approaching, the Holywood man showed he was able to identify issues and fix them — quickly.

“I just felt like I got a little out of sync, so I worked a little bit on tempo and rhythm and just slowing the transition down from the top,” McIlroy said of the range session on Friday evening here. “That was really it. It wasn't a ton of technical stuff, but I just needed to try to sync it up again. I felt a little better [leaving the range], definitely felt better than I felt on the course.” 

McIlroy, winner of the Canadian Open twice in recent years including in 2019 at this course, had gone 36 holes without carding a birdie on a par 5 and without finding one on his front nine at all. Both of those issues were answered early on Saturday when he went one better and eagled the long fourth hole thanks to a 20ft putt measured to perfection. He added three more birdies at the fifth, seventh and ninth to turn in a sizzling 30. Things slowed a little after that though with a three-putt bogey on the par-five 17th a real frustration.

“I got off to a pretty fast start, 3-under through 5 and 5-under through 9. I wish I had made a couple more coming in, but overall it’s a good day's work and hopefully it puts me within touching distance going into tomorrow,” added McIlroy, who was again followed by huge crowds in a place that has taken him to its heart. “It's incredible. I do feel like an honorary Canadian at this point and the support I get here is amazing. I keep saying it, but it's just a pleasure to play in an atmosphere like that. The crowds are so good, they're so supportive, so enthusiastic. I’m looking forward to one more day of it.” Shane Lowry turned in an impressive early 68 which featured four birdies and a lone but costly blemish when he double-bogeyed the ninth. But you sensed at least part of the goal for his third round was to make it quick: with the Offaly U20 hurlers in All-Ireland Final action, the Clara man was very efficient with his time, wrapped up his round just after throw-in and got to watch the Faithful tyros bring some much-welcome silverware back to the county.

Back on the course, New Zealander Fox and Scottish Ryder Cup star MacIntyre started Saturday as joint-leaders on 10-under but it was Fox who found early joy on Saturday stretching four shots in front of the field around the turn.