McIlroy and Lowry upbeat; Walsh second, Byrne fifth in Swiss Open
Alex Noren in action at Wentworth. Picture: DP World Tour.
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry might be playing for the minor places in the BMW PGA Championship but they see good things in their games as the Ryder Cup approaches.
Lowry fired a bogey-free 68 to head into the final round eight strokes behind leaders Adrien Saddier and Alex Noren on seven-under, while McIlroy mixed seven birdies with a bogey and two double-bogeys in a rollercoaster 70 to lie two strokes further back.
"A bogey-free 68 is decent," said Lowry, who was tied for 31st with teammates Jon Rahm and Justin Rose. "I feel like I'm hitting the ball well. I feel good. My driver feels good.
"My irons haven't been as good as I would like this week, but when I get on the greens, I'm starting to hit my putts at the hole, and a lot of other chances are going in. So I'm happy with what I see there as well."
McIlroy has made 17 birdies in his first three rounds, but after playing the par-fives in a combined one-over for the week — 11 strokes more than Saddier and Noren — he admitted he's paid for some "sloppy mistakes".
"Yeah, there's been a lot of birdies," said the world number two, who turned in one-over after a double bogey at the ninth, then followed four birdies with a double-bogey at the 17th before making four at the 18th.
"There's been quite a lot of good stuff, but just a few too many of those blue numbers.
"I think I've played the last two holes in four over combined for the week as well.
"So those are two holes you're looking at the end of the round to try to birdie, and end your round on a good note."
McIlroy bogeyed the 18th on day one before making a double bogey on Friday and he believes he's played the other 16 holes well enough to be in contention.
"Over the last three days, I've made a couple of doubles in there and a couple of bogeys. And so it could be a lot, lot better and feel like I could be right in the mix — 17 birdies, just a few, too many sloppy things on there.
"But overall, the good stuff is in there, which is a good thing. It's good for a little match play event coming up here in a couple weeks' time."
Tom McKibbin shot 69 to head the Irish challenge in joint 20th on eight-under as Saddier and Noren took advantage of off days by Rose, Viktor Hovland and overnight leader Hideki Matsuyama in the final group to claim the lead.
French star Saddier, who held the 54-hole lead in the Amgen Irish Open last week, birdied the 15th, 17th and 18th to shoot 65 and claim the clubhouse lead on 15-under.
He was quickly joined at the top by recently named European Ryder Cup assistant captain Noren, who followed birdies at the 16th and 17th with an eagle at the last to shoot 66.
They lead by two strokes from LIV Golf's Tyrrell Hatton, who birdied seven of his last 10 holes en route to a 64.
"Going into tomorrow, I'd love to have another good round and give myself a chance to win," said Hatton, who won the title in 2020.
"It'd be nice to actually talk to my wife and my dad coming off the 18 if it did go my way tomorrow, as opposed to having to talk on an iPad. So we'll try our best, and I'm excited for it."
Hovland birdied the last to shoot 71 and go into the final round three off the lead on 12-under as Rose and Matsuyama slipped back with rounds of 76.
Meanwhile, Lauren Walsh produced a hot finish to tie for second behind England's Alice Hewson in the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open.
The Castlewarden golfer went into the final round just two shots behind defending champion Hewson, who shot a four-under 67 to win by five shots on 13-under.
Walsh was two over for the day with three holes to go, but birdied the 16th and eagled the 17th to shoot a one-under 70 and tie for second (€19,500) with Sweden's Kajsa Arwefjall and Switzerland's Chiara Tamburlini.
Douglas rookie Sara Byrne shot 67 to clinch the best finish of her LET career as she tied for fifth on seven-under and won €10,050.
Annabel Wilson tied for 33rd on two under after a 71
