McIlroy fires third-round 64 to charge into contention at Deutsche Bank Championship

Northern Irish golf ace Rory McIlroy fired a third-round 64 to charge into conflict at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston on Sunday.

McIlroy's round moved him to 10 under par and left him two shots behind leader Russell Henley of the United States, who shot 65. The Northern Irishman is tied third with American Chris Kirk, who also hit a 64, and Australia's Jason Day (69).

McIlroy, who is currently second in the FedEx Cup standings behind Hunter Mahan, managed seven birdies in his penultimate round after making a fast start, The BBC reported.

The in-form world number one birdied the second and third before picking up another shot at the seventh after a 132-yard approach to nine feet. Two more excellent up and downs at the 13th and 15th left him with birdies and he was close to holing his nine-iron tee shot at the 16th as he moved further up the leaderboard.

McIlroy said that it was just another solid day's golf and obviously sets him up nicely for the next round. He added that most of the back nine, he did not need to hole anything of significant length.

McIlroy has won three of his last four tournaments heading into Boston, having triumphed at the Open Championship, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the US PGA Championship in recent weeks, the report added.