Rory McIlroy slipped three shots behind the leader at the BMW Championship as he revealed he was ready to leave the tournament if wife Erica went into labour.
After heading into the third round one shot in front, McIlroy struggled on the tough Olympia Fields course on Saturday, picking up five bogeys along with two birdies to close out the day with a three-over-par 73.
That dropped the 31-year-old to two-over for the tournament, three back from joint leaders Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama, and sitting in a tie for sixth place.
McIlroy was in good spirits after his round despite giving up the lead as he revealed that his wife was expecting to give birth to a baby girl in a matter of days.
“I’m just waiting for a phone call,” McIlroy said at the conclusion of his round.
“I was waiting for a phone call last week and it didn’t come, and then (McIlroy’s caddy) Harry (Diamond) has been keeping his phone in his pocket just to make sure, but nothing as of yet.”
If he does get the call while on the course, McIlroy added he would not hesitate to withdraw from the tournament.
“I’m going to play in many more Tour Championships, and it’s only going to be the birth of your first child once,” he said.
“That trumps anything else.”
Replacing McIlroy and American Patrick Cantlay at the top of the leaderboard are Johnson and Matsuyama.
Johnson rose to a share of the lead thanks to another consistent one-under performance while Matsuyama used a first-hole eagle to springboard to the top — joining Johnson on one-under headed into the final day.
Matthew Fitzpatrick leads the way for the English contingent as he sits tied for 12th.
After carding a five-over 75 on Friday, Fitzpatrick was in fine form for the third round as he made the most of an eagle on the 15th to close out the day with a two-under 68.
Tyrell Hatton dropped two spots to equal-15th after carding a one-over 71, while Paul Casey also shot 71 to finish Saturday’s round tied for 26th.
Collated third round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour BMW Championship, Olympia Fields CC (North), (USA unless stated, par 70):
209 Dustin Johnson 71 69 69, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 67 73 69
211 Adam Scott (Aus) 72 69 70, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 72 71 68, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 69 73 69
212 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 70 69 73, Brendon Todd 73 68 71, Jon Rahm (Spa) 75 71 66, Bubba Watson 72 70 70, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 70 75 67, Kevin Kisner 72 70 70
213 Russell Henley 74 69 70, Lanto Griffin 70 73 70, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 70 75 68
214 Tony Finau 70 71 73, Abraham Ancer (Mex) 70 74 70, Jason Kokrak 74 71 69, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) 73 70 71, Patrick Cantlay 71 68 75, Brian Harman 72 73 69
215 Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 73 74 68, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 72 69 74, Billy Horschel 70 71 74, Corey Conners (Can) 76 69 70, Harris English 75 71 69
216 Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 70 74 72, Alex Noren (Swe) 72 71 73, Mark Hubbard 70 77 69, Daniel Berger 73 74 69, Richy Werenski 74 72 70, Cameron Smith (Aus) 75 73 68, Max Homa 74 72 70, Paul Casey (Eng) 73 72 71, Jim Herman 71 72 73, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 72 75 69, Patrick Reed 73 71 72
217 Matthew Wolff 72 71 74, Kevin Na 72 74 71, Michael Thompson 72 73 72, Xander Schauffele 73 70 74, Viktor Hovland (Nor) 71 73 73, Collin Morikawa 76 73 68
218 Brendan Steele 72 71 75, Justin Thomas 73 74 71, Robby Shelton 75 72 71, Bryson DeChambeau 73 70 75
219 Gary Woodland 75 70 74, Adam Hadwin (Can) 74 72 73, Tom Hoge 71 73 75, Charles Howell III 75 75 69, Joel Dahmen 71 77 71, Danny Lee (Nzl) 73 72 74, Scottie Scheffler 75 72 72, Harry Higgs 70 74 75
220 Maverick McNealy 77 70 73, Tiger Woods 73 75 72, Matt Kuchar 75 76 69, Nick Taylor (Can) 75 72 73
221 Ryan Palmer 71 76 74, Adam Long 72 77 72, Tyler Duncan 68 76 77, Cameron Champ 77 74 70
222 JT Poston 72 77 73, Kevin Streelman 76 80 66
223 Sungjae Im (Kor) 77 74 72
226 Jason Day (Aus) 76 74 76, Talor Gooch 76 79 71, Andrew Landry 77 75 74
237 Marc Leishman (Aus) 80 78 79
