Results of the BMW PGA Championship 2024: Rory McIlroy and Billy Horschel are three strokes behind before the final round

VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) – Eleven years after winning the title as a 20-year-old prodigy, Matteo Manassero was in good position to win the prestigious BMW PGA Championship again on Saturday.

Manassero shot 9 under par and 63 and was three strokes ahead after the third round.

The victory capped a career resurgence for Manassero, who was widely expected to become a golf superstar as a teenager but whose game went into free fall, dropping the Italian to the third-tier Alps Tour and a world ranking of 1,705.

This year he is back on the European tour, winning in South Africa in March and has his sights set on victory over a strong field – including Rory McIlroy – in the tour's flagship event.

“When I think about the difficult years and now I'm here at the top, it's an incredible feeling,” said Manassero. “My perspective has changed. I'm going to go out tomorrow and enjoy the day.”

Manassero, now ranked 101st, pumped his fist after sinking a 12-foot putt on the final hole to secure a birdie-birdie-birdie finish and the back nine of 31 on the historic West Course, which was blanketed in heavy rain for much of the round. He made seven birdies and an eagle 3 on No. 4 to move to 18 under par for the tournament.

“I have to be honest, it was one of the best rounds I’ve ever played,” said Manassero.

McIlroy shot a 66 after going up and down for par on the 18th hole after hitting his second shot into the water. The third-seeded Northern Irishman, who won the event in 2014, shared second place with 2021 champion Billy Horschel, whose round of 65 included a streak of seven consecutive birdies – including holed putts totaling 130 feet – on the 8th hole.

“The hole looked like it was the size of the Atlantic Ocean,” Horschel said.

Last night's leader, Matthew Baldwin, ranked 363rd in the world and delivering packages for Amazon two years ago, shot 71 to sit alone in fourth place after a round that began in pouring rain – requiring preferred lies – and ended under sunny skies outside London.

McIlroy, who has also twice finished runner-up at Wentworth, recovered from a seven-stroke deficit entering the final round to win a decade ago and said catching Manassero on Sunday could be just as difficult.

“It's nice to see him back playing golf like he has been playing and where he needs to be,” McIlroy said of Manassero, “so it's going to be an exciting day.”

“But if I get off to a quick start, the game can begin.”

Manassero would be a popular winner given his previous career.

In 2009, he won the British Amateur, the silver medal at the British Open for junior amateurs and became the world number 1 amateur.

Within four years he won four tournaments on the European Tour, crowned this with victory at the BMW PGA Championship and thus moved into the top 25 in the world. Six years later he briefly retired from a game that he no longer enjoyed, but is now back in the big league.

With a win, he would be well on his way to qualifying for next year's Ryder Cup and securing one of the ten PGA Tour cards awarded each year on the European Tour.

“I know what I'm doing much better,” said Manassero. “It's not easy to compete at such a high level in such tough conditions. It's not exactly the ideal comfort zone, but that's what we're working for. That's what we're trying to achieve. I'm just happy where I am.”