McKibbin one back at The Belfry as McIlroy closes to within five in Atlanta
Tom McKibbin. Picture; LIV Golf
Tom McKibbin is just one stroke behind New Zealand's Daniel Hiller and England's Marco Penge with 30 holes to play in the weather-affected Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.
The LIV Golf star is seeking a second DP World Tour win that would catapult him well inside the top 100 in the Race to Dubai and into contention for a Ryder Cup place at Adare Manor next year.
The Newtownabbey talent (23), who remains contracted to LIV Golf should it continue next year, carded a second successive 68 to sit just two shots behind Penge at halfway as officials battled to make up for lost time after long weather delays at The Belfry on Thursday and Friday.
There were no weather delays on the third day, and McKibbin managed to play six holes of his third round in two-under par before play was suspended due to darkness.
He was alone in third place on 10-under-par, just one stroke behind Penge and Hillier, who faced birdie putts on the sixth green when the hooter sounded.
Over nine hours of play were lost on days one and two before Penge completed the final four holes of a second round and posted a 65 to lead by a shot on 10-under from the Kiwi, who shot 66.
McKibbin was four-under for his second round with three holes to play and finished bogey-eagle-birdie for his 68, almost holing his second shot for an albatross at the 17th before tapping in from 17 inches for his eagle.
The Holywood star has several years left on his LIV Golf contract and still hopes to qualify for the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.
"That would be pretty special," he said. "To play a Ryder Cup in Ireland would be a bucket-list thing to do. Yeah, I'll definitely give it my best shot."
As for LIV's uncertain future, he said: "Yeah, as far as I am concerned, I've got a couple of years left, but, at the same time, I am going to play as much as I can over here until the end of the year and then see what happens.
"I'm playing Ireland, Wentworth and France. Still undecided about the Dunhill, then Spain and India."
Penge won three times last year to give Rory McIlroy a run for his money in the Race to Dubai and earn his PGA TOUR card.
But he has what he described as a "nightmare" season so far after suffering problems with his ear, neck and nervous system which have led him to play a limited schedule.
Hillier, meanwhile, is looking for a second British Masters win since 2023.
The third round will resume at 7 am on Sunday with the leaders facing a 30-hole marathon.
McIlroy five behind Hovland after Saturday 63
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy fired a seven-under 63 to grab the early clubhouse lead in the Tour Championship in Atlanta before finishing the day five shots behind Viktor Hovland in a tie for seventh.
The world number two made nine birdies in a seven-under par round to set the target at 10-under in the FedEx Cup finale, where the winner will pocket a $10m cheque.
"It's a unique week because if you look at the scoring, even starting yesterday, there were only like eight or nine shots that spread the field," said the Holywood star, who started the day tied for 20th but ran the tables on the greens, taking just 24 putts.
"Obviously, it's a short field. There's only 30 players, but it does feel like if you go out and shoot a good score, the leaders, you know, I thought today if I could get like 10 was sort of my target, which is great that I got there.
"But I thought if the leaders only get to 13 under, for example, they might go lower than that. But I felt like if I could do that, I could give myself a chance.
"I think since this golf course has been changed a couple of years ago, I felt like the field used to get spread out a little bit more on the old track.
"And it seems like the last couple of years, it's a little bit more bunched, and that's a great thing because if you make a couple birdies, you can jump up, you know, 10 or 15 spots really easily."
In the end, Hovland shot a 65 to lead by a stroke from Ryan Gerard (66) on 15-under.
