McIlroy looks unstoppable, takes eight-shot lead to Sunday

By Brendon Hanley Jun 19, 2011, 0:09 GMT

Bethesda, Maryland - Rory McIlroy looks unstoppable at the top of the leaderboard at the US Open as he takes an eight-shot lead into Sunday's final round.

The Northern Ireland golfer carded a three-under round of 68 at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland on Saturday to go 14-under for the tournament to lead second-placed South Korean YE Yang, who will again partner him in the final round.

American Robert Garrigus, Australian Jason Day and England's Lee Westwood are a further shot behind on five-under, tied in third place.

Both Day and Westwood shared the best round of the day with a six-under 65, with Westwood enjoying a four-hole run from the 13th that included three birdies and an eagle.

Westwood, who shot his best-ever round at a major tournament, said that he needed to get a good score to get back into contention. 'I played lovely today, once I got going.

'My position now in the championship is certainly better than it was on Friday morning, when I was already looking for flights home. But this is a strange championship and you can easily play your way into it, as I did on the back nine.'

Day, who finished second behind South African Charl Schwartzel in April at the Masters, played solid golf without a single dropped shot and six birdies.

But as impressive as Day's and Westwood's rounds were, it was McIlroy who took control of the competition.

The 22-year-old gave a good indication of the way he was approaching his third round at the par-four third, where his tee-shot ended up in the rough.

Instead of going for an aggressive attempt that might give him an unlikely birdie chance, he laid up to give himself an easy wedge shot, which he put within three feet of the hole for a simple tap-in for par.

He then birdied the fifth to move to 12-under, added another birdie on the ninth before dropping only his second shot for the entire tournament on the par-three 10th.

He immediately bounced back on the 11th with another birdie to move back to 13-under. Before this competition, nobody had ever achieved that score at a US Open, and the Irish golfer has now been there thrice.

He missed a birdie putt at the 13th, which would have taken him to 14-under, but he made no mistake at the next hole when he birdied the par-four to break yet another record.

McIlroy then parred the next four holes to finish with both hands firmly on the trophy heading into Sunday's final round.

Sergio Garcia, Fredrick Jacobson and Matt Kuchar are tied in sixth place on four-under for the tournament.