McIlroy falls out of contention at BMW Championship with tournament's worst round of 72

Northern Irish golf ace Rory McIlroy carded a 72, the worst round of the tournament, on the third day to fall out of contention at the BMW Championship in Denver.

McIlroy's 72 leaves him on four under and nine shots off the lead, held by American Billy Horschel, while Ryan Palmer retains second after a 67 took him to 10 under.

German Martin Kaymer propelled himself into the running with a 64 but overnight leader Sergio Garcia from Spain fell away after a disappointing 72, The BBC reported.

The top 70 players on the FedEx Cup points list after the Deutsche Bank Championship qualified for this week's event, with only the top 30 advancing to the finale, which begins on Thursday.

McIlroy, who is second in the FedEx Cup points list, got off to a bad start with a bogie at the third and, despite birdies at the fourth, sixth and seventh, a dire triple-bogie at the 12th severely damaged his standing.

It was the same for Garcia, whose putting let him down as he bogeyed the seventh, eighth and 14th.

However, there were no such concerns for Horschel, who carded a bogey-free round and capped his day with a superb, long putt on the last to give him his seventh birdie of the day and a commanding lead.

Palmer, who needs a high finish to get into the FedEx Cup top 30 and reach next week's Tour Championship in Atlanta, was less consistent with six birdies and three bogeys, while Bubba Watson was in typically-aggressive mood to card a bogey-free 66 and move to eight under and joint third with Kaymer, the report added.