Irish Open R3 leaderboard: Rory McIlroy closes gap at the K Club

A patient Rory McIlroy fired a bogey-free 68 to close the gap on the leader after 54 holes at the Amgen Irish Open. 

Chasing his first win since completing the career grand slam at The Masters, the 36-year-old finished with a birdie to sit four shots behind Adrien Saddier at the summit. 

The Frenchman endured a rocky day at the K Club, hitting seven birdies and three bogeys to reach 15-under par. 

He will take a one-shot lead into the final round over Spain's Angel Hidalgo, who surged up the leaderboard on Saturday with an exhilarating 63. 

Hidalgo made 12 birdies and threatened to post a sub-60 round, only to come unstuck with a devastating double bogey at the 16th after finding the water. 

McIlroy is currently tied for fourth on 11-under with Sweden's Joakim Lagergren. 

He told Sky Sports Golf his 68 was "probably the most frustrating four-under par round of golf" he has played in a while. 

"I had plenty of chances," McIlroy said. 

"It got gusty at the end, I felt like I'd given myself a lot of chances, hit some good putts that didn't go in, had a nice one sort of drop on 14, but yeah, I felt like all day I was just trying to keep myself close-ish to the lead. 

"Yeah, so I feel like I could be a couple of shots better, but overall still in a decent position going into tomorrow."

McIlroy was notably improved off the tee, but he struggled to judge the breeze with his approaches into the greens. 

"The wind caught me out a couple of times," he said. 

"I think what's hard as well is the greens are so soft, so you're trying to take balls out of the air so they don't spin as much, but then if it's downwind you're not getting the effect of the wind, so you're playing for wind, but it's not really affecting it. 

"It was just hard to judge a little bit today, I did my best, the wind caught me out a couple of times, but yeah, if I can hit it the same again like I've done the last couple of days, maybe see a couple more putts go in tomorrow, hopefully I'll be right there."

Thousands of McIlroy's home fans have followed the reigning Masters champion round the K Club over the last three days. 

McIlroy pointed out the huge crowds should have been taken into account when his group was put on the clock for playing too slowly in round one. 

"It's just an unbelievable atmosphere to play in," he said. 

"It's such a pleasure, they're so respectful, they supported Alfredo out there a lot as well, we had a great round of golf, so yeah, it was amazing. 

"I know it's a sell-out for the weekend, so I'm expecting more of the same tomorrow, which will be great."

McIlroy said he believes he has a low score in him on Sunday. 

"If I can get off to a fast start tomorrow, put a little bit of pressure on the guys behind, hopefully I'll make the back nine interesting," he said.