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McIlroy loses magic touch; Power 16th in Ohio; O'Driscoll improves

Rory McIlroy birdies the tour seventh at Crooked Stick from 29 feet. It's his longest putt of the week so far.

PGA Tour — Rory McIlroy failed to break the 30-putt barrier for the third day running when he carded a one over 73 to find himself deep in the pack at the BWM Championship in Indiana.

Less than a week after combining stellar play from tee to green with some lethal form on the greens to make up a six-shot deficit and win the Deutsche Bank Championship, the world No 3 appears to be off his game with the blade at Crooked Stick.

He had 30 putts in a lacklustre one over par round (follow 32 putts on Thursday and Friday) to fall to tied 35th alongside Graeme McDowell, who also shot 73 to kiss his chances of advancing to the Tour Championship goodbye.

McIlroy and McDowell are on three under par, 15 strokes behind leader Dustin Johnson, who shot a 68 to lead by three strokes on 18 under par from England's Paul Casey (68) with JB Holmes (68) four behind in third place.

McIlroy is ranked 67th of 69 for strokes gained putting this week and 60th for putting in the Playoffs. He is also tied 93rd for strokes gained putting this season though that's still better than McDowell, who is 134th and in need of a top five finish this week to qualify for Atlanta/

Mcilroy is still projected to go to East Lake with the FedEx Cup title in his sights as he is projected to remain among the Top 5 in the points list and therefore guaranteed the $10m bonus if he wins the Tour Championship.

The Top 10 for Strokes Gained Putting on the PGA Tour this year are: 

  • 1 Jason Day 1.158
  • 2 Phil Mickelson .753
  • 3 Jordan Spieth .750
  • 4 Andrew Landry .654
  • 5 Aaron Baddeley .626
  • 6 Steve Stricker .620
  • T7Harris English .616
  • T7 Daniel Summerhays .616
  • 9 Kevin Kisner .602
  • 10 Martin Piller .562
  • T81 Shane Lowry .060
  • T93 Rory McIlroy 0.011
  • 134 Graeme McDowell -0.175
  • 168 Pádraig Harrington -0.342

Seamus five back in Ohio

Web.com Tour — Seamus Power moved up 13 places to tied 16th behind Bryson DeChambeau in the DAP Championship in Ohio.

The West Waterford man is on three under par, five strokes behind DeChambeau, who has a one stroke lead over Zach Sucher on high under par. Scores

Tommy O'Driscoll moves up

Alps Tour — Tommy O'Driscoll closed with a level par 72 to share 28th heading into the final round of the Citadelle Trophy International at Golf Château de Preisch on the France-Belgium border.

The Kerryman had four birdies and four bogeys on his card, finishing the day on one under par, nine strokes adrift of leaders Federico Maccario and Niccolo Quintarelli of Italy.

They are one stroke ahead of England’s Andrew Cooley. Scores