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Rory McIlroy goes after a drive. @EuropeanTour

It's almost too good to be true. A week after Jason Day wins the Players Championship, Rory McIlroy leads the Irish Open by three strokes and Jordan Spieth will play in the final group on Sunday at the Byron Nelson. Can the top three players in the world really all win in a two-week span?

McIlroy's path looks to be the easier of the two. He sits at 9 under after 51 holes as play was suspended with three holes remaining on Saturday. He's 2 under on the day and up three on reigning Masters champion Danny Willett and four up on Russell Knox and Richard Sterne.

McIlroy was the only golfer in the field without a bogey in his third round (although he's three holes from finishing with two par 5s left).

"No bogeys in 15 holes, that was good," said McIlroy. "I feel like I left a few out there, but at the same time, I can't complain with a three-shot lead going into tomorrow. Today was a day to just hang in there and try not to make too many mistakes and that's what I said I wanted to do today."

The rain fell off and on all day as multiple delays interrupted play at the famous K Club. This is what the grounds looked like all day. That is, pretty miserable.

But now McIlroy, who insisted he was really close to winning at the beginning of the week, will try and lock up his first victory worldwide since last November. Given his position as tournament host (officially his foundation is the host), a win on Sunday would be a thrill for the four-time major champ.

"It would be amazing if I could get my first win of the year here," said McIlroy. "I get goosebumps thinking about it, so I can't really think about it too much just now. No matter what the circumstances are, whether I've won the week before or whether I haven't won in six months, to win the Irish Open would be something very special."

McIlroy's third round resumes on Sunday at 2:30 a.m. ET.