World’s No. 1 Brooks Koepka and world’s No. 3 Rory McIlroy have never met each other in the final Sunday pairing at any tournament — PGA Tour or otherwise.
That changes on Sunday at the WGC St. Jude.
McIlroy blistered the TPC Southwind with an eight-under par 62 and grabbed the 54-hole lead at 12-under par. That’s a shot better than Koepka, who hit 17 of 18 greens and shot 64 (11-under).
Overnight leader Matt Fitzpatrick is the only other player in double digits under par. He struggled on the back nine Saturday but managed to shoot a one-under par 69 and will be in the next to last group with 62-shooter Marc Leishman.
But all eyes will be on that McIlroy-Koepka pairing.
“Rory’s gonna come out firing — I’m just gonna have t take it deep,” Koepka predicted.
Birdies have been bountiful all week. No wind and receptive greens have made it a scoring bonanza.
“I had a lot of good numbers where I could make a full, committed swing,” McIlroy said of his round. “The finish was huge to get myself in the lead,” said McIlroy, who birdied the final three holes of the day.
For Koepka, his putter finally showed up. “I saw some putts go in and that’s always nice,” Koepka said afterward.
With low scores out there, Koepka and McIlroy will have to be aware of players behind them.
Along with Leishman, Jon Rahm and Alex Noren are in striking distance, just three back of the leader.
