World No. 399 Graeme McDowell walked off with birdie toward a 3-under 37-32=69 in R3 of the Arnold Palmer Invitational for a 54-hole tally of 3-under 213, climbing 24 spots to T6, four back of co-leaders Billy Horschel (71) and Talor Gooch (72).
The Mastercard ambassador, in on a sponsor exemption, rebounds from a 76 yesterday (3 birdies, 4 bogeys, 1 triple) with a sterling five-birdie two-bogey showing today, good for a 5.065 SG: Total. He’ll be in the fourth-to-last pairing on Sunday with fellow Ulsterman Rory McIlroy, vying for his fifth TOUR title in 265 events, first since the opposite-field Corales in 2019 50 starts ago (on conditional status) as the 54-hole leader by one. Today, the long-time Central Florida resident continued his stellar play around-the-green, now 2nd-ranked in SG: Around with a cumulative 3.734, but also got his approach game back on track, gaining 3.660. Two of his 12 career podiums on TOUR came here, finishing runner-up on debut in 2005 and again in 2012.