Paris 2024: McIlroy goes bogey-free to keep gold medal hopes alive

Rory McIlroy shot a pleasing bogey-free round of 66 on the third day of the golf event to leave himself well within the frame for an Olympic medal at La Golf National on Saturday.

After an uneven opening two days which both contained plenty of birdies but several dropped shots, McIlroy went into his round on five-under-par overall but a tidy card with five birdies and no dropped shots sees him start tomorrow's final round on -10, four behind leaders Jon Rahm of Spain and American Xander Schauffele.

"A little better today. Limited the mistakes, which is something I talked about last night not doing over the first two days," McIlroy told RTÉ Sport's Darren Frehill after his round.

"To play a bogey-free round and get myself up there in contention for a medal this morning is very exciting.

"I played the front nine in three-under-par again, that's the third day in a row I’ve done that. I said to myself walking to the tenth tee, 'let’s just play a solid nine holes of golf. Hit fairways, hit greens, give yourself chances'. And I did that.

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"I made that big putt for par on 17 which I thought was a huge point in the round and it keeps me one shot closer to the leaders. I don’t know what the lead is going to be at the end of the day, I’ll be three or four behind, depending what the lads do coming in.

The 17th has given the Holywood star trouble this week. But that save on his second-last hole of the day could prove pivotal should McIlroy get off to a fast start tomorrow and find