Rory McIlroy’s ‘sloppy mistakes’ at FedEx St. Jude Championship has him needing course record for the win

Rory McIlroy entered Saturday’s third round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship in need of a strong round on moving day. Despite playing well for stretches, missed opportunities and inconsistency in the tee box proved costly.

McIlroy shot a 2-under 68, but is now five shots back of leader Lucas Glover. There are also a host of talented golfers in between, making it very difficult for the Northern Irishman to walk away with the title Sunday.

He knows it too.

“I’m going to need to go out tomorrow and shoot something like Justin Rose shot this morning, like a 61, 62 to have a chance,” McIlroy said after his round.

Rose tied a course record, shooting a 9-under 61 Saturday. His comment prompted the perfect follow up of “Just a course record, that’s all?”

“Exactly,” the four-time major winner replied.

The 34-year-old nearly salvaged the round with a beautiful stretch of golf. McIlroy made three consecutive birdies on 15, 16 and 17, moving him to 10-under for the tournament. But his wayward tee shot on 18 led to a bogey-5, and was indicative of his round.

McIlroy very easily could be just a couple shots back of the lead. But some unforced errors proved costly as the leaders put together more impressive rounds.

“Just sort of sloppy mistakes... like the three-putt on 9, wrong club on 6, leaving myself in the wrong spot,” McIlroy said. “I feel like I’ve sort of been stuck in neutral a little bit this week.”

Yet, he is still sitting T6 in a field with some of the best golfers in the world. The leaderboard reads as a who’s who on the PGA Tour. Jordan Spieth (-11), Max Homa (-11), Patrick Cantlay (-9), Viktor Hovland (-9) and McIlroy will all look to keep Glover from winning back-to-back tournaments Sunday.

Kendall Capps is the Senior Editor/Site Manager for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more coverage.