After the trials and tribulations of Friday at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where players described the weather conditions as "truly miserable", the weather mercifully cleared up allowing for better scoring.
And, while playing the Old Course at St Andrews, that's exactly what the father-son pairing of Gerry and Rory McIlroy did, as the duo carded an impressive better ball score of 59, as they vaulted up the leaderboard in the team competition and Rory in the individual.
On moving day, the pair dovetailed perfectly around the Old Course, as Gerry was an incredible five-under-par on his front nine and Rory four-under on his back.
Playing a better ball format, where the best score out of the two counts, Gerry opened with a birdie on the opening hole, before a further birdie at the third got him to two-under. Receiving three shots for the day, Gerry then made a nett eagle at the fifth, as yet another birdie at the seventh bolted the pair up the leaderboard.
Closing their front nine with yet more birdies, it was Rory's turn to contribute as, following birdies at the eighth and ninth, he made it a triage at the 10th. After a nett birdie at the 12th from Gerry, it was the four-time Major winner who finished with class, as three birdies over the final five holes gave the pair a 13-under total of 59 for the day.
Two birdies in the opening three holes đź‘ŹGerry McIlroy helping the team cause. #DunhillLinks October 1, 2022
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As the top 20 pairs made it into the weekend, we will see Gerry and Rory once more on Sunday, as Rory sits just outside the top 10 at seven-under-par and eight shots off Englishman Richard Mansell, who is looking for his first DP World Tour title.
Speaking after his third round, the Northern Irishman said: "Yeah, it was good. You know, obviously we had a lot of rain yesterday and that softened the course up. So even though it was quite windy out there, the ball was pretty much soft wherever it landed. It made it quite scorable today, and the rough isn't up but it's set up pretty generously obviously for the amateurs. There's plenty of opportunities, only it wasn't the way I wanted to start, spinning it back into the burn on 1.
"I played some nice golf after that. Just trying to keep up with my dad on the front nine. He took care of the front, I took care of the back, and it looks like we are going to be able to play again tomorrow, which is great."
