Rory McIlroy pulls into tie for lead at Scottish Open
McIlroy, bidding to win the tournament for the second time in three years, is tied atop the leaderboard with second-round leader Chris Gotterup at Renaissance Club. Gotterup had a 21-foot putt on the final hole with a chance to become the solo leader, but it was barely off the mark, so he settled for a third-round 70.
The duo goes into Sunday's final round, which marks the last tune-up prior to next week's Open Championship, with a two-stroke lead at 11 under 199.
Wyndham Clark made an early charge and posted 66, pulling to 9 under with Jake Knapp (68) and the English duo of Marco Penge (69) and Matt Fitzpatrick (69).
McIlroy, who won the 2023 tournament at 15 under, played the last four holes in a bogey-free 4 under.
Gotterup was coming off Friday's 61, but he had bogeys on Nos. 2 and 14.
Penge and Fitzpatrick, playing together in the second-to-last pairing, went to the 18th with a chance to pull into a share of the lead and instead they both took bogeys.
Harris English, whose 66 matched McIlroy and Clark for the best score of the third round, is among eight golfers tied for seventh at 7 under.
England's Harry Hall, who was paired with Gotterup, struggled with a 74 and dropped to 5 under and tied for 20th place.
Defending champion Robert MacIntyre of Scotland made the cut with his 72 on Saturday putting him at 1 over.
--Field Level Media
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First Post
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Lloyd claims Bumrah makes India lose more: Do the numbers back him? Here are India's stats with and without pacer
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4 hours ago
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‘He is not outstanding with the ball': Moeen Ali questions Ravindra Jadeja's all-round presence in England
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4 hours ago
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Forget captaincy and, you know, the tactical side of captaincy. Ben is an absolute leader." "And when Trevor Bayliss (ex-England coach) suggested that Trevor said at the time that Ben could be the next captain of England, a lot of people in the English media laughed and said, do not be ridiculous. You know, I know that when I was involved with the England team, the more responsibility you give Ben, the better he reacts to that, and he is an absolute leader." "When Ben is doing anything, people want to be part of it. They want to be with him. And I am not saying that he is not a good tactical captain. I am not saying that for one minute, but he is an absolute leader. He's a leader of people," he continued. The ex-England assistant coach also hailed Stokes for steaming in hard while delivering his bowling spells at Lord's and keeping his team uplifted and motivated. 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"But the great thing is, as soon as that game finished, you know, Siraj was down on his haunches, you know, and the England players were straight to him congratulating him. What a great game. And there will be a few days of rest and recuperation and it will go again at Old Trafford," he concluded. Coming to the match, England won the toss and opted to bat first. England was reduced to 44/2, but a 109-run stand between Ollie Pope (44 in 104 balls, with four boundaries) and Joe Root (104 in 199 balls, with 10 fours) and a counter-attacking 84 run stand for the eighth wicket stand between Brydon Carse (56 in 83 balls, with six fours and a six) and Jamie Smith (51 in 56 balls, with six fours) took England to 387. Jasprit Bumrah (5/74) was the highlight for India with the ball. In the second innings, India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early, but a 61-run stand between Karun Nair (26 in 46 balls, with five fours) and KL Rahul and a 141-run stand between KL (100 in 177 balls, with 13 fours) and Rishabh Pant (74 in 112 balls, with eight fours and two sixes) took India close to England's score. A brilliant half-century from Ravindra Jadeja (72 in 131 balls, with eight fours and a six) and lower-order contributions from Nitish Kumar Reddy (30) and Washington Sundar (23) took India to 387, with nothing separating the sides. Chris Woakes (3/84) was the top bowler for England in this innings. In England's second innings, India continuously kept England under pressure, except for a 67-run fifth wicket stand between Root (40 in 96 balls, with a four) and Stokes (33 in 96 balls, with three fours). Sundar (4/22) delivered a game-changer spell, running through the middle-order and bundling out England for 192. India was set 193 to win. During the run-chase, Team India was reduced to 82/7. However, Jadeja (61* in 181 balls, with four boundaries and a six) was not in the mood to give up. He put up resilient partnerships with the lower-order batters that put England under tension, but Mohammed Siraj 's unlucky dismissal, where the ball spun back to the stumps following its landing on the pitch, hurt a million hearts as India was bundled out for 170. India trails 1-2 in the series. Stokes won the 'Player of the Match' for his handy knocks of 44 and 33 and a total of five wickets in the match, including a three-wicket haul taken in the second innings in tandem with Jofra Archer, who also got three wickets.
