MacIntyre surges clear at Canadian Open as he targets maiden tour win

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre picked up five shots down the stretch to take a four-shot lead into the final day of the RBC Canadian Open.

The 27-year-old looked in trouble early, opening with a bogey and going around the turn at one over.

A birdie on the 10th returned him to even par, but another dropped shot on the 13th threatened to derail his hunt for his first PGA Tour title.

He recovered masterfully, however, carding three straight birdies before sinking a 30-foot putt for eagle on the par five 17th to head into the clubhouse on 14 under.

“I’ve been in a good mindset from the get-go and had zero expectations at the start of the week,” said MacIntyre.

Trending

“Today I just stuck in there. I didn’t have it great at the start, but I feel like whenever I dropped a shot, I bounced back with maybe two good shots into the green, and I would pick up a shot back.

Image:
Robert MacIntyre entered the week with three top-15s in his last five starts, including a tied-eighth at the PGA Championship

“It never got away from me. A bit of luck, a bit of myself being staying in the moment, staying calm. I got my reward with the putter in the end.”

MacIntyre leads by four strokes from the trio of Mackenzie Hughes, Ryan Fox and Ben Griffin.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood is a shot further back on nine under after soaring up the leaderboard with a bogey-free round of 64 on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy fired himself back into contention with a five-under round of 65.

The Northern Irishman moved back into the top 10 on seven under after a front-nine scoring blitz at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club.

Get the best prices and book a round at one of 1,700 courses across the UK & Ireland

“There are still some low scores out there. It felt like it could’ve been better but I got myself back into the tournament and hopefully within touching distance of the guys going into tomorrow,” he said in his post-round interview.

“I had a quick range session last night and felt that reset me. I just felt like my swing was a little out of sync with everything, so I just worked on a little bit of tempo and rhythm.”

Watch the Canadian Open and US Women’s Open live on Sky Sports this weekend; Stream top golf on Sky Sports with NOW