Filippo Celli Grabs Spherical 3 Lead at BMW PGA Championship as Gerard Collapses and McIlroy Fees Again

Filippo Celli birdied the 18th gap Saturday to take the outright lead on the BMW PGA Championship, reaching 13 underneath par after a wild third spherical at Wentworth Club that noticed in a single day chief Ryan Gerard collapse and Rory McIlroy surge again into rivalry with a closing eagle.

Celli’s end put him one shot away from a crowded group at 12 underneath that features Alejandro Del Rey and Johannes Veerman, each of whom shot 8-under 64s to vault up the leaderboard. Kristoffer Reitan matched that 64. Robert MacIntyre and Ludvig Åberg additionally moved into the combination at 10 underneath with rounds of 66 and 67, respectively, as each Europeans chase their first wins of the 12 months.

Gerard, who started the day with a two-shot lead at 12 underneath, unraveled with 5 bogeys and no birdies via his first 14 holes. He recovered with late birdies to complete at 9 underneath, dropping nicely exterior the lead group heading into the ultimate spherical.

McIlroy sat at simply 1 underneath via 17 holes earlier than putting his strategy from 231 yards on the par-5 18th to arrange an eagle, closing with a 69 to achieve 11 underneath — two pictures again of Celli with a spherical to play. Nineteen gamers stay inside 4 pictures of the lead getting into Sunday, together with Joaquin Niemann, who’s chasing his greatest win exterior LIV Golf at 11 underneath.