McIlroy trails leader Storm by 3 strokes in South African Open

World number two Rory McIlroy remained in hot pursuit of the South African Open title yesterday after a third-round 67 that included an eagle left him second, three shots behind Graeme Storm.
Englishman Storm also carded a five-under 67 at Glendower golf Club in Johannesburg for a total of 199 with McIlroy from Northern Ireland on 202 in the European Tour event.
“I wish I was a little bit closer to the leader,” admitted McIlroy after a round played in hot, partly cloudy conditions.
“Graeme is three shots ahead of me at the moment so it would be nice to make a fast start tomorrow (Sunday) and close the gap. If I can quickly narrow the gap between us to two or one shots, it will set up an interesting final round.”
Storm has no fears about playing alongside McIlroy for the first time.
“I am not sure how many supporters I will have compared to him, but we will have some fun out there,” he chuckled.
“I have never played with Rory before, but I know him really well.
“I am just pleased that I kept the momentum going from the second round, played really nicely and holed some good putts.”
South African Jbe Kruger carded a 69 and Englishman Jordan Smith a 66 to share third place on 203.
The lowest score of the day was a course record-equalling 63 from Italian Edoardo Molinari, including nine birdies, which matched the second-round score of Storm. Molinari is among six title challengers on 204, five shots off the pace.
McIlroy, a four-time major winner who trails Australian Jason Day in the world rankings, had the large gallery which followed him buzzing with excitement when he eagled the eighth.
A long, straight drive at a parkland course littered with water hazards was followed by a 144-metre (157-yard) second that dropped just past the pin, then trickled back into the hole.
The 27-year-old Irishman, who suffered back pain during the second round, raised his arms in delight against a backdrop of thunderous applause.
He turned in three-under 33 and after picking up three consecutive birdies from 11, slightly stained his scorecard by bogeying the final hole for the second straight round. McIlroy is experimenting with clubs from three manufacturers after Nike, with whom he had a multimillion-dollar deal, pulled out of the equipment market
While the stunning length of some drives by the Irishman had spectators gasping, he was also wayward occasionally, requiring some skilful recoveries from thick, tree-surrounded rough.
Storm saw his lead over McIlroy dwindle to one shot several times, but the golfer ranked 251 in the world held his nerve to increase his second-round lead by one stroke. He did not drop a shot while picking up three birdies on the outward journey and another two coming back.
McIlroy was the only one of five major winners starting the tournament who survived the cut.
Ernie Els and Retief Goosen of South Africa, Nick Faldo of England and Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland finished below the one-under 143 cut-off mark.

Leading third round scores
199—Graeme Storm (ENG) 69-63-67
202—Rory McIlroy (NIR) 67-68-67
203—Jbe Kruger 67-67-69, Jordan Smith (ENG) 67-68-68
204—Dean Burmester 67-70-67, Romain Langasque (FRA) 70-66-68, Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 71-70-63, Joel Stalter (FRA) 69-70-65, Jaco van Zyl 71-65-68, Peter Uihlein (USA) 70-64-70
205—Thomas Aiken 67-70-68, Trevor Fisher jnr 66-68-71, Keith Horne 66-69-70, Richard Johnson (SWE) 69-70-66, Mikko Korhonen (FIN) 72-66-67
206—Laurie Canter (ENG) 69-66-71, David Drysdale (SCO) 70-65-71, Chris Hanson (ENG) 71-69-66.