Wilson Regains Lead in Alfred Dunhill Links Championship; McIlroy Three Back


Oliver Wilson fired a 7-under 65 to take a three-shot lead after 54 holes of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The European Tour event used Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St. Andrews as the venues for the first three rounds of the pro-am-style tournament, with Sunday's final round at St. Andrews' Old Course.

Wilson, who opened with a 64 at Carnoustie followed by a 72 at Kingsbarns, fired five birdies and an eagle on the par-5 fifth at St. Andrews to reach 15-under 201, three clear of fellow Brit Tommy Fleetwood (62), Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy (64) and Frenchmen Alexander Levy (68) and Raphael Jacquelin (69), the 36-hole leader. All of the players tied for second played St. Andrews Saturday.

Wilson wasn't surprised that McIlroy rebounded from an opening 73 with rounds of 67 and 64 to rise into contention. "I just expect Rory to do that," said the 34-year-old, who's searching for his Tour victory.

"I expect him to shoot lights out every time he tees it up. The other names that are on the board don't really affect me. I'm just doing my thing, trying to shoot as good a score as I can, get it in play, one shot at a time, all the boring stuff, but it's true. And I managed to do that really well."

McIlroy is playing with his father Gerry this week; the two enter the final round at 23-under and in seventh place in the pro-am portion of the tournament. "He has been such a rock for me over the years and has always been there to cheer my successes and give me encouragement when it hasn't always come together. I would love it if we could win the team championship together," said McIlroy, the top-ranked player in the world.

Four shots behind Wilson are England's Chris Wood (66 at Kingbarns), Scotland's Richie Ramsay (68 at St. Andrews) and Ryan Palmer (68 at St. Andrews).

Defending champion David Howell of England had a 68 at St. Andrews to get to 6-under 201.

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014078/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y.