Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry share third ahead of final round in New Orleans

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry dropped from top spot but remain firmly in contention at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event.

Among the last out on Saturday for the best ball format, the Irish duo were slow to get going and found themselves well down the leaderboard with many of the early starters going well.

However, a strong back nine saw the duo move back up and into a tie for third place ahead of Sunday's final round.

With just one birdie in the first six holes, McIlroy and Lowry added two in three holes before the turn, and followed it up with five further birdies on the way in to post an eight-under 64 to move to 21-under.

Patrick Fishburn and Zachary Blair lead the tournament on 23-under, one shot clear of Henrik Norlander and Luke List, while Mark Hubbard and Ryan Brehm share third with the Lowry and McIlroy and they will play together in the final round, which will finish with the alternate shot format once again.