Honda Classic 2014: Rory McIlroy tops leaderboard for 3rd straight day, Tiger charges

Rory McIlroy’s standout week at the Honda Classic continued on Saturday with another round in the 60s. Through 54 holes, McIlroy is 12-under and two shots clear of the field.

Relative to his near-flawless first two days at PGA National, McIlroy cooled off a bit on Saturday and shot just 69 in the third round. But he was just as steady off the tee, all over the flagstick with his irons, and repeatedly burned the edge with his putter, including on two birdies that missed by a fraction of an inch on his last two holes of the day. It’s a stark contrast from his disaster here last year, when he walked off the course and quit, struggling to adjust to his new Nike equipment while burdened by management and personal issues. It was the low point of an awesome young career, but still brought McIlroy back down to earth quickly after winning a major in each of the previous two years.

The 2014 Rory looks much more like the guy who won here two years ago and ascended to No. 1 in the world. In that win, McIlroy had to hold off a furious Sunday charge by Tiger Woods, who shot 62 to put the pressure on the Ulsterman. Rory finished up about five hours after Tiger on Saturday, but Woods at least put himself in position to maybe make some noise ahead of the final pairing again. Tiger finally put it together Saturday morning for his best round of the year, a 5-under 65 (a full review of Tiger’s round here). Once the field got in, Woods settled at a tie for 17th. It will be hard to chase and catch Rory, given the way he’s played all week, but Tiger was getting to the point where he just needed to post a number rather than contend on the weekend. He at least has a chance, albeit a slim one, which is more than he could say 24 hours ago.

The top challenger for McIlroy at this point is probably Russell Henley, who will play in the final pairing on Sunday. Henley is a promising young American who won as soon as he started on the Tour, taking the Sony Open last January. He’s the kind of player who can get hot with his putter and is generally regarded as one of the best with the flatstick in the game, so that could put a scare in McIlroy. In the third round, however, Henley’s big move came when he slam dunked a pitching wedge from 150 yards out for eagle (via PGATour).

Despite all Rory’s game, that’s the shot of the week so far and it got him to 10-under, which is where he would finish to secure a spot in the Sunday final pairing. It’s been a grind at times since that win at Waialae, so it’s hard to predict how he’ll respond playing with Rory on Sunday.

With way things have gone so far, McIlroy will be an overwhelming favorite to go wire-to-wire and finish things off on Sunday night. It’s a big change from last year, but the next step in the progression of his recovery to form, which started at the end of 2013. Right now, he’s looking like a force for this entire season.

Here’s the leaderboard around McIlroy as he tries to become the fourth multiple winner of the Honda on Sunday: