"It's a little frustrating" - Rory McIlroy regrets missed opportunities at the 2023 BMW Championship for the FedEx Cup race

Rory McIlroy has revealed that it was frustrating to miss a few birdie opportunities during the round of the BMW Championship, which pushed him three strokes behind the lead after 54 holes.

McIlroy shot a 3-under 67 on Saturday, August 19, to aggregate at 8-under after three rounds. After having a first-round lead with a bogey-free round, he has made a few mistakes in the last two days, which have hampered his chances of winning the BMW Championship.

The third round could have been much better if McIlroy hadn't missed the makeable putts on the 16th and 17th holes. Speaking at the post-round interview on Saturday, he said his putting was still not where he wanted it to be.

"Got off to a great start, holed some nice putts early, sort of stalled in the middle of the round. Had those two bogeys at 9 and 10. Then I felt like I played really good coming in," said McIlroy.

"Basically gave myself a great up-and-down on 14, and then gave myself four great chances on the last four holes and only converted one of them," he added.

He further stated that if he was a little disappointed with the round, he felt he could have been a little closer to the lead. However, he believed he played better in the second round.

The four-time major champion expressed that the conditions were also challenging during the third round, and the wind was a bit tricky.

"The ball isn't really going anywhere when it hits the ground," he said.

Speaking about his putter, McIlroy felt it was a mixed round, given he made a few good putts but then missed a couple.

"It's just the consistency of it," he added. "Those putts like on 10 or the missed putts coming down the last few holes here, I know when I'm putting well, I should hole those and I'm not. It's a little frustrating."

The 24-time PGA Tour winner concluded that other aspects of his game were good, and he would like to maintain the same momentum in putting throughout the entire round as he had in the initial few holes on Saturday.

---

When will Rory McIlroy resume playing at the BMW Championship on Sunday, August 20?

The World No. 3 golfer is paired with Viktor Hovland for the final round of the 2023 BMW Championship. Hovland shot 5-under 65 to tie for fifth with McIlroy.

The duo will tee off on Sunday, August 20, at 1:28 pm ET. The final round of the BMW Championship will begin at 9:20 am ET, with Taylor Moore teeing off from the first hole.

After 54 holes, Matt Fitzpatrick and Scottie Scheffler are at the top of the leaderboard with a single-stroke lead over Brian Harman. Fitzpatrick fired a 4-under 66, while Scheffle carded a third round of 6-under 64 on Saturday.

The Open Championship winner shot 3-under 67 to aggregate at 10-under. Max Homa, who was the 36-hole leader at Olympia Fields, dropped to 4th after carding 1-over par in the third round.