When Rory McIlroy first announced that he was going to play in the RBC Canadian Open, he said he was looking forward to winning another national championship.

 

 

 

 

 

After firing a 6-under 64 on Saturday to split a three-way tie for first at the event, he's just 18 holes away from accomplishing that goal.

 

"National championships are very important. They're the oldest championships in our game for the most part," said McIlroy. "If someone said to me earlier 'Do you know how many national opens you've won?' I could count them and I've won five. "If I were able to win tomorrow that would be my sixth and that would be something I would be very proud of."

 

 

McIlroy has already won the U.S., British, Irish, Australian and Hong Kong Opens. He's also made it clear that the Canadian Open can serve as a good tune-up event for next week's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach

 

 

 

 

Webb Simpson shot a 3-under 67 and Matt Kuchar had a 1-under 69 on Saturday to join McIlroy at 13 under overall. The key to Simpson's success at the Canadian Open has been unerring consistency, playing 54 holes without a single bogey.

 

 

 

 

 

Although he's still in contention, Snedeker was disappointed in his 1-under performance having matched a tournament record with a 10-under 60 on Friday. "It's always hard to follow up a low round like I did yesterday," said Snedeker. "Today was a tough day. Wind was blowing, hard to put the ball in the fairway, and then the greens are firm and bouncing so really hard to get them close."

 

 

McIlroy's round was tied for best on the day with Jonathan Byrd, who was tied for ninth at 8 under. Kuchar was co-leader with Scott Brown after two rounds at Hamilton Golf and Country Club.

 

 

Things to know

 

 

• Jonathan Byrd shot his lowest-career RBC Canadian Open round with a 64, besting his previous low of 65, which he shot at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in 2006 (R1).
• With a third-round 66, Shane Lowry shoots 64 and 66 in the same tournament for the first time in his PGA TOUR career.
• Brandt Snedeker has been under par in 19 of the past 20 rounds he has played at the RBC Canadian Open; 54-hole total of 198 is his lowest-career score at the tournament.
• Adam Hadwin heads into the final round of the RBC Canadian Open one stroke off the lead for the second time of his career; finished T4 on the previous occasion in 2011.
• Jim Furyk leads the field in Greens in Regulation (47) and Proximity to the Hole (27’3”); is second in Proximity on the PGA TOUR this season (33’5”), trailing Corey Conners (32’8”).
• The other two occasions with three 54-holes leaders during the 2018-19 season were at the CIMB Classic (Marc Leishman, Gary Woodland, Shubhankar Sharma) and the Wells Fargo Championship (Max Homa, Jason Dufner, Joel Dahmen); the winner held the 54-hole co-lead on both previous occasions (Leishman, Homa.

 

(CBA)