Rory McIlroy Forced by Fellow European Tour Pro to Take a Backseat in Staggering Fashion

The DP World Tour has started its 2024 season with the inaugural Dubai Invitational. Star players of the European Tour are currently locking horns to win the $2.5 million event, and unsurprisingly, Rory McIlroy led the event for the first two rounds until now!

However, leaving the Irish golfer behind after three rounds, Tommy Fleetwood managed to gain dominance on the field and astonished everyone with his game. Along with emerging from Phoenix, Fleetwood also brought forward an amazing 54-hole statistic that has happened to the golfer for the first time in 10 years.

After the third round, Fleetwood sat proudly on the top of the leaderboard. He carded a marvelous score of 8 under in the third round and left the Northern Irishman behind. Astonishingly, the golfer taking the lead after the 54 holes has happened for the first time in a decade. Tommy Fleetwood was not even aware of his milestone, and when brought to his notice, he was just as surprised. 

How did Tommy Fleetwood feel after achieving the milestone?

When a reporter in the post-round conference asked him about his achievement, and his performance, he said, “Is it, really? I’m not leaving yet. Yeah, it was nice. It’s a strange stat. So, yeah, nice day to be out on the course.”

He also shared how he has improved his gameplay compared to yesterday. “Yeah, I felt I played very well, got off to the perfect start, and got momentum early on, which I didn’t have yesterday.”

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He felt like looking closely at his improved performance made him feel funny and good. “It’s funny, really, when you get a day like that and you’re just looking at them and you just feel like you can come close. So, yeah, nice day to be out on the course.”

McIlroy was holding the lead strongly for the first two rounds. In three days, he carded rounds of 62, 70, and 67. Meanwhile, Fleetwood was also maintaining his position in the top players waiting for the opportunity to move ahead of McIlroy, and he was able to do so in the third round after he shot 63. The competition is tough indeed with so much at stake, but both McIlroy and Fleetwood are fierce players.

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Who do you think will win the inaugural edition of the 2024 Dubai Invitational? Let us know your picks in the comments below!