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Rory McIlroy Trails by Two Shots Heading Into Final Round of RBC Canadian Open

After a tumultuous week in golf, the outspoken McIlroy will seek to beat out a crowded leaderboard and win the event for the third-straight time.
Zach Koons|
Rory McIlroy Trails by Two Shots Heading Into Final Round of RBC Canadian Open
Rory McIlroy Trails by Two Shots Heading Into Final Round of RBC Canadian Open

Following a tumultuous week for the sport of golf off the course, Rory McIlroy finds himself in a position to win the RBC Canadian Open for the third straight time. 

However, he’ll have to navigate past a crowded leaderboard on Sunday to do so. 

An active Saturday at Oakdale Golf & Country Club saw a number of names make significant moves into contention heading into the final round. McIlroy was among those who took advantage of the forgiving conditions, firing off a six-under 66 to finish the third round at 12-under overall. 

Though McIlroy briefly seized the lead on the back nine, he was quickly caught by C.T. Pan, who used a mistake-free final 10 holes to take the outright lead at 14-under. The former University of Washington star will carry a two-shot advantage over the field into Sunday as he seeks to claim his second win on the PGA Tour.

Sunday will prove no easy task for Pan, who will have a talented field right on his heels from the moment he tees off. McIlroy, the tournament’s defending champion, is joined by a group of five others that sit at 12-under that will try to reel in the 31-year-old Pan during the final round.

Among the others tied with McIlroy are Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Mark Hubbard, Harry Higgs and Andrew Novak. Aaron Rai and Nick Taylor—who posted the best round of the day with a nine-under 63—are three shots off of Pan’s lead.

In a week dominated by storylines off the course, headlined by the PGA Tour’s announcement to partner with the DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia—the financial backer of LIV Golf—in a shocking agreement, all eyes will be on Oakdale come Sunday as Pan, McIlroy and a host of others seek to claim one final victory before next weekend’s U.S. Open.

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Zach Koons
ZACH KOONS

Zach Koons is a programming editor at Sports Illustrated who frequently writes about Formula One. He joined SI as a Breaking and Trending News writer in February 2022 before joining the programming team in 2023. Koons previously worked at The Spun and interned for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He currently hosts the “Bleav in Northwestern” podcast and received a bachelor’s in journalism from Northwestern University.

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