McIlroy’s next stop: No. 1?

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This article was published 04/03/2012 (5292 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Rory McIlroy is one round away from No. 1 in the world.

McIlroy made two big par saves Saturday on a windy back nine at PGA National and finished with a birdie from the bunker for a 4-under 66, giving him a two-shot lead over Harris English and Tom Gillis in the Honda Classic.

McIlroy was in a similar position a week ago when he reached the final of the Match Play Championship — win and the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland becomes the second-youngest player behind Tiger Woods to be No. 1 in the world.

Only this time, there is more than one player to contend with in the final round. Five players were within four shots of the lead, a group that includes PGA champion Keegan Bradley.

“I wasn’t standing up 2 up on the first tee in the final,” McIlroy said, smiling.

The group does not include Woods. He finally made a few putts, but not nearly enough to keep pace with everyone else. Woods went the last 11 holes without a birdie and had to settle for a 69, leaving him nine shots behind.

English, the 22-year-old rookie who won on the Nationwide Tour last year while still an amateur, made a 10-foot par save on the 17th and finished with a 66. He will be in the final group with McIlroy, a rare time when the U.S. Open champion will be playing with someone his own age with a tournament on the line.

They will be joined by Gillis, a 43-year-old journeyman who turned pro a year after McIlroy and English were born. Gillis had the lead to himself on the back nine until a bogey on the par-3 15th. He had a 69.

McIlroy was at 11-under 199.

“It’s nice to have the lead going into tomorrow,” he said. “I have to try to focus on what I’ve been trying to do all week, which is hit fairways and hit greens and stay in the present, and not think about everything that could happen.

“I’ve just got to go out there and try to put a good number on the board.”

The wind was at its strongest, though not too severe and the tees were moved forward on the par 3s over the water because of the dangerous front hole locations.

That’s where McIlroy was at his best.

He hit 8-iron at the middle of the green on No. 5 with a draw that held up against the wind to 10 feet and made one of only 10 birdies on the day. On the 15th hole, the start of PGA National’s famous finish, McIlroy hit 9-iron to just outside five feet, the closest anyone got in the third round.

There also was a bonus birdie on the par-4 11th, with water in front of the green. McIlroy was in mangled rough to the right, and the safe route was to play short and left of the green to avoid a big number. He blasted a 7-iron from 181 yards to the back fringe, and then holed a 50-foot putt. NBC Sports reporter Roger Maltbie walked by on the way to the 12th tee and said to him, “Really?”

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McIlroy tried to contain a smile under his cap and curly brown hair.

Even so, his two key shots were for par. From the right rough on the 13th, the best he could manage was to hit into a front bunker, some 30 yards short of the flag. McIlroy nearly holed the shot to escape with par, and then he made an eight-footer for par on the next hole.

“They were two crucial holes today,” he said.

— The Associated Press