Patrick Cantlay moves in front at BMW Championship, cold putter halts Rory McIlroy at Wilmington Country Club

Defending champion Patrick Cantlay moved to the top of the leaderboard as Rory McIlroy lost ground on moving day at the BMW Championship. McIlroy was the best player in the field for 17 of the 18 holes on Thursday at Wilmington Country Club, but a triple bogey set him back. Ad His second round was one of promise but things stalled on Saturday, with a cold putter the major problem.

BMW Championship'This one’s on me' — Spieth ignores caddie advice, hits ball in water and takes blame3 HOURS AGO McIlroy dropped a shot on the first after a disappointing three putt — and it set the tone for the day. He dropped another shot on the second after his approach found the rough. McIlroy’s putting has been much improved following work with Brad Faxon, but it was off colour on Saturday as he passed up birdie chances on three and four.

A huge roar greeted McIlroy’s first birdie of the day at six, as he drained a curling right-to-left effort. Zalatoris withdraws from BMW Championship mid-round due to injury Nelly Korda claims stunning Aramco Team Series win from 10 back as sister Jessica falls apart The ninth saw a third bogey of the round as he turned in 37. At that point his race looked run, but he found form on the greens on the back nine — and that appeared to filter through to the rest of his game.

Birdies on 12 and 13 got him back to level par for the day. A glorious approach to four feet on 16 set up a third birdie, while a drive of 370 yards on 17 helped move him to two-under for the round. He split the fairway on 18, but his round was bookended by three-putts as a bogey dropped him to seven-under for the tournament.

Third Round Leaderboard 1. Patrick Cantlay, 112-under T2. Xander Schauffele, 11-under T2.