RORY McILROY warmed up for ‘shifting day’ at the British Masters with a spicy curry — and was hot stuff as he charged into rivalry.
McIlroy shot a sensible six-beneath Sixty four at Shut Home in Northumberland to go away him simply two photographs off the lead.
However he admitted he thought he may wrestle with a few downwind photographs!
He stated: “I had a hot curry final night time and there was just one quantity on my thoughts strolling to the primary tee!
“However I began properly for the primary time this week and that settled me down. I had a good run of birdies and that basically received the aggressive juices flowing once more.
“Once I obtained right here, I stated I wasn’t going to get too labored up about pushing for a first win of the yr in these two occasions I’ve received left to play.
“However that mindset modifications when you drive your approach into rivalry. I’m not that far again any extra. I simply should exit and play aggressive, attacking golf once more and see the place it takes me.”
McIlroy appears to have developed an obsession together with his weight-reduction plan this week.
He talked about how he wanted to chop down on the cake and junk meals earlier than the event started however at least he appeared joyful to feast on birdies.
The third spherical is conventional referred to as ‘shifting day’ and the one main gamers who did not take a step ahead have been in a single day chief Tyrrell Hatton and event host Lee Westwood.
However David Lingmerth received himself within the image with a beautiful sixty two, whereas fellow Swede Robert Karlsson Edged in entrance by a shot after his sixty seven.
Hatton will hope he has received his dangerous spherical out of the best way together with his disappointing seventy one, whereas Westwood appeared much more irritated at his degree-par 70.
Westy claimed three early birdies to climb into a share of the lead and with, six to play, he had stretched his bogey-free run to forty eight holes.
However the wheels got here off on best gap this week, the 526-yard thirteenth. Westwood drove into thick tough, had two makes an attempt to hack it out and made an unsightly bogey.
He dropped one other on 14 and was steaming when a third bogey at 18 left him the place he began — three off the tempo.
THIRD ROUND LEADERBOARD – 198 R Karlsson (Swe) sixty seven; 199 R Ramsay sixty five, P Dunne sixty five, T Hatton seventy one, I Poulter sixty eight, G Storm sixty seven; 200 R McIlroy sixty four, C Hanson sixty nine, S Lowry sixty six, D Lingmerth (Swe) sixty two, G Coetzee (SA) sixty five.