Ireland under pressure from Sweden and Italy heading into finale

SHENZHEN, China -- The Omega World Cup is set for a three-way final-round tussle after defending champions Sweden and Italy trimmed Ireland's lead to just one stroke after Saturday's third-round fourballs.

Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell remain on course for the wire-to-wire victory after a bogey-free 8-under 64 to sit at the top of the leaderboard at 26 under overall.

Their round did not reach the same heights as Thursday's brilliant 14 under par in the opening-round fourballs, however, and leaves McIlroy and McDowell under the most pressure they have found themselves in all week.

The defending champion duo from Sweden, Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson, have yet to drop a shot this week and sit ominously at 25 under par following a 62, with Italian brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari also just a shot off the pace after a flawless 61.

The United States team of Nick Watney and John Merrick posted a 5-under 67, and are 16 shots off the pace.

"It was still a productive day," said McIlroy. "We had a three-shot lead going out and it is now down to a one-shot lead, but we still very positive going into tomorrow.

"The holes that we played well, we both seemed to play well and that doesn't work very well in fourball, but we both played well," he added. "We probably left a few shots out there, but we are still in a great position going into tomorrow and we are still very positive."

With the three leading groups in sparkling form and a six-shot gap to Japan (64) and South Africa (62) at 19 under par heading into Sunday's testing alternate shot foursomes, the title appears to be remaining in Europe.

"It seems to be a three-horse race, so barring any disasters in the foursomes, I can't see anyone but the top three teams winning," said McDowell, who finished 16th last year with Paul McGinley. "We are both playing well and both playing with a lot of confidence, but we just didn't get the ball on the green today.

"We both played well on the same holes and didn't help each other out as we did on Thursday, but generally we both put the ball in play and both played well and we are both looking forward to tomorrow."

With Edoardo and then Francesco Molinari making 20-foot birdie putts over the final two holes to earn a place in Saturday's final group after trimming Ireland's lead to one, McIlroy and McDowell both escaped trouble at the par-3 17th.

But after Stenson holed from eight feet at the last to join Italy at 25 under, McDowell and McIlroy both missed makeable birdie putts at the last to set up a thrilling finale.

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