Rich Beem says if he thinks Rory McIlroy can still catch Scottie Scheffler on Sunday at The Open

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Rory McIlroy heads into the final round of The Open Championship six shots behind the leader, Scottie Scheffler.

McIlroy was in scintillating form on day three at Royal Portrush, but his 66 meant that he only closed the gap on Scheffler by one shot after three rounds of The Open.

After his third round, McIlroy raved about Scheffler’s performance at The Open, and admitted that he can’t see him slipping up.

However, if the 36-year-old goes out and posts a round in the mid-low 60s, anything is possible.

His round on Saturday was action packed, and the crowd were unsurprisingly firmly in his corner.

McIlroy was involved in a bizarre incident during his third round at The Open, when he hit his second shot on the 11th hole and another ball popped up out of the ground.

However, he didn’t let that bother him as he finished strongly at Portrush.

Rich Beem says if Rory McIlroy can still catch Scottie Scheffler at The Open

McIlroy will need to shoot a seriously low score if he is to catch Scheffler on Sunday.

Scheffler will almost certainly not come back towards the rest of the field.

So is a McIlroy win at The Open possible?

Beem was asked that exact question during Sky Sports’ broadcast of The Open in the UK.

He said: “Of course it is. We all talk about that as a 16 year old he shot a 61 out here. He can.

“I think today he could have been a bit more special. I think the one thing where he really stalled out was that he did not make the birdie on five or six. He had two great opportunities there but he has to get out there early and often and keep his pedal down.

“But you can’t play wildly. You have to find the fairways and give yourself as many good looks as you possibly can.

“It’s not like you can just go out there and dismantle it with the driver, you have to be smart off the tee and start dismantling it with your second shot and that putter, which has been great this week.“

In my opinion, McIlroy will need to shoot 64 at the very worst, if he is to have any chance of winning The Open.

It’s hard to envisage Scheffler shooting a score worse than even-par on Sunday.

However, Iona Stephen suggested that the world number one may falter in his final round.

She said: “I am seeing a stumble from Scottie Scheffler. I am seeing a stumble and I am seeing a worldie of a story from Rory McIlroy here in Royal Portrush.“

Rory McIlroy’s stats from round three at The Open

McIlroy was in fine form on Saturday at Royal Portrush.

Here is how his numbers looked from his third round at The Open:

As good as McIlroy was on day three of The Open, it’s clear to see from those stats that he still has room for improvement.

The Northern Irishman needs to tidy up his driving and approach play if he is to shoot that super-low number he needs on Sunday,