Rory McIlroy says what the organisers did at TPC Sawgrass on day three at the Players which he really struggled to cope with

Add as preferred source on Google

While many of the bigger names slipped out of contention on Saturday at the Players Championship, Rory McIlroy just about managed to keep himself in the mix with 18 holes left to play.

It was a difficult day for those who teed off later in the day. Overnight leaders Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia quickly fell away. Meanwhile, five players failed to break 80 around TPC Sawgrass.

Of course, the wind was the main problem for many. TPC Sawgrass is such a challenging proposition at the best of times, but the high winds ensured that almost anyone who shot under par for the day now finds themselves in contention ahead of Sunday.

Rory McIlroy is arguably the one to watch in the final round. The 2019 winner shot a 73 to leave himself just four shots back of J.J. Spaun.

What Rory McIlroy could not adjust to on Saturday at the Players Championship

But it seems that it was not the wind which caused McIlroy the most problems on Saturday in Florida. Speaking after his round, the 35-year-old noted that he simply could not get to grips with the putting surfaces as the tournament organisers attempted to keep the course playable.

“Yeah, I feel like I played better than I scored. All the bogeys I made were really soft. Three-putt on five. Sort of made a mess of 12, three-putted 13, three-putted 17,” he said.

“I feel like that’s one of the hardest things. They slowed the greens down today for obvious reasons, and I feel like I didn’t adjust very well to that. Then some of the chip shots around the greens, when you start to get downwind, I got a little tentative with some of those, as well.

“Yeah, most of the dropped shots were from around-the-green mistakes rather than tee to green. I felt like I hit the ball pretty well, controlled my flight. It was nice to make a birdie on 18 at least and see one putt go in.

“Not out of it by any means. The wind is supposed to still be blowing tomorrow, so yeah, it was nice to birdie that just to get one closer to J.J. on the last.”

The decline in Rory McIlroy’s putting during the third round at TPC Sawgrass

McIlroy continues to impress at the beginning of the 2025 season without ever really looking like he has found his top gear. He won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, while he has not finished outside the top 17 so far on the PGA Tour.

McIlroy admitted to making a mistake at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after putting some new equipment in the bag over the first three days. That decision appeared to put paid to his hopes of winning at Bay Hill.

But he will be hugely frustrated with his putting after round three at Sawgrass having been so good on the greens over the first two days. He gained more than four shots on the field with the putter over the first two rounds.

However, he lost 1.348 shots on the greens on Saturday. And clearly, McIlroy believes that the situation was largely avoidable.

You would imagine that he will be spending a little longer on the practice green before his final round begins on Sunday as he still has a phenomenal chance of winning.