Rory McIlroy gives Royal Portrush an afternoon to remember during a captivating five-under 66 in front of enormous crowds during the Open Championship third round.

Rory McIlroy Aiming to Join Tiger Woods in Historic Record at Open Championship originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Rory McIlroy arrived at Royal Portrush buoyed by his victory at Augusta this April, hoping to exorcise the demons of his dramatic 2019 collapse here.

As the latest inductee into one of sport’s most exclusive clubs, there is little that grand slam champion Rory McIlroy has not seen in the game of golf. Then, just past the halfway mark of his Open Championship third round on Saturday,

Here's a look at how McIlroy scored in the third round of The Open Championship: McIlroy shot a 5-under 66 in the third round of The Open Championship on Saturday, July 19. Following an opening-round score of 1-under 70 and 2-under 69 in round two. He is now tied for fourth at 8 under par through three days of competition.

Rory McIlroy climbed the leaderboard Saturday at the 2025 Open Championship thanks in large part to an electric eagle putt on the par-five 12th.

There was a moment in the middle of the afternoon Saturday at Royal Portrush where it still felt like anything was possible at the 2025 Open Championship. All scenarios were still on the table. Hope ran rampant around the property as the third round trundled on and player after player made birdie after birdie.

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Rory McIlroy gave the home crowds exactly what they craved on Saturday: He used the traditional third-round “moving day’’ to make a move up the leaderboard. McIlroy, who began the day at 3-under par, seven shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler, activated the huge Portrush crowds with a third-round 5-under-par 66.

Rory McIlroy carded a 2-under 69 in the second round of The Open to give him back-to-back under-par rounds and, most importantly, a tee time on the weekend.