The China Mail - More McIlroy magic at PGA pairs event but Novak and Griffin lead

The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland, coming off a Masters triumph two weeks ago to complete a career Grand Slam, rolled in the clutch putt at the 18th green to complete an 11-under par 61 round for defending champions McIlroy and Ireland's Shane Lowry.

"I think the secret is not thinking about it in those 90 minutes. We had a bit of lunch and we were watching some highlights from last year and talking about where we're going to go for dinner," McIlroy said of how he handled the delay.

"The last thing on my mind during the delay was the putt, and then once I got back out there, I sort of concentrated on it and made sure I did what I needed to do and just a bonus for it to go in."

In a bid to become the event's first back-to-back champions, they were on 22-under 194 after 54 holes at TPC of Louisiana, five adrift of US leaders Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin, who seek their first PGA titles.

The Americans also fired a 61 for a three-stroke lead over Japan's Ryo Hisatsune and Takumi Kanaya and Americans Jake Knapp and Frankie Capan with Danish twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard and US rookies Kevin Velo and Isaiah Salinda on 193.

"We ham and egged it really well," Griffin said. "Andrew got hot on the front nine. Then the back I saved him when he needed me."

McIlroy's magic boosted the chance for a repeat win with Lowry, who was confident of their skills in Sunday's alternate-shot (foursomes) format.

"I was pretty happy to have Rory go out and eagle the last. It makes dinner taste nicer and puts us in a great position going into tomorrow," Lowry said.

"We played pretty well. There was a lot of holes where both of us had chances. We went out and we did what we had to do.

"The foursomes is really the part of this week we feel like we can pick up some ground on the field. So just go out and play like we have been, play our own game, and give it a good run tomorrow."

McIlroy, who has already won three titles this year, seeks his 30th PGA title while Lowry chases his fourth and eighth worldwide victory overall.

The duo have made four eagles this week, the last coming after a bogey at 17 and being greeted by a storm-stoppage horn as they walked up to the 18th green.

"To have that delay and then come out, I was just happy he got the speed," Lowry said. "From the side it looked in all the way."

It didn't take long for McIlroy to analyze the putt, either.

"I wasn't concerned so much because I'd say the first two-thirds of the putt was sort of downhill, so there was never really concern of getting the ball to the hole," McIlroy said.

"It was just a matter of picking the right line and just starting it on that. Quite a comfortable putt, a little bit of left to right early, a bit of right to left at the end, overall not a ton of swing in it.

"Knew I'd hit it with the right speed. As long as it didn't take too much right-to-left at the end, which it didn't, it was perfect."

D.Pan--ThChM