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HOYLAKE, England -- Rory McIlroy looked as though he had just thrown a knockout punch at the British Open, and it was only Saturday. When he rolled in a 10-foot eagle putt on the final hole for a 4-under 68, he straightened his back, stared defiantly at thousands of fans crammed into the horseshoe arena around the 18th green at Royal Liverpool and lightly pumped his fist. He went from being tied for the lead to six shots ahead of Rickie Fowler in just over an hour. And suddenly, the biggest challenge facing the 25-year-old from Northern Ireland was reminding himself that he had one more round left. McIlroy cant afford to picture his name etched on the base of that silver claret jug. He cant think about what it will be like next April to drive down Magnolia Lane at Augusta National with a shot at becoming the sixth player to capture the career Grand Slam. "Im not taking anything for granted," McIlroy said. He knows that from experience, good and bad. He blew a four-shot lead at the Masters in 2011 and shot 80 in the final round. He had an eight-shot lead at the U.S. Open two months later and set two scoring records to win by eight. And just two months ago, McIlroy came from seven shots behind to win by seven. It looks like a lost cause for Fowler, Sergio Garcia and anyone else trying to chase down a guy who has won both his majors by eight shots. The six-shot lead was the largest at The Open since Tiger Woods led by six at St. Andrews in 2000. Even so, McIlroy was doing his best to preach caution. "A lot can happen," he said. "And Ive been on the right side of it and Ive been on the wrong side of it. You cant let yourself think forward. Youve just got to completely stay in the moment, and thats what Im going to try to do for all 18 holes tomorrow." History is on his side. No one has ever lost a six-shot lead in the 121 years that The Open has been contested over 72 holes. Boy Wonder would not seem to be a candidate. "What you have with him is hes just so explosive," Jim Furyk said after a 71 left him 10 shots behind. "He won the U.S. Open by eight shots. He obviously doesnt have any issue as the front-runner, and has no issue trying to extend that lead, much like Tiger used to." McIlroy was at 16-under 200. "If Im able to go out and get off to a good start, maybe I can put a little bit of pressure on him," Fowler said after a 68. "Because hes definitely in control of the golf tournament right now." Fowler tried to do his part on a cloudy Saturday with occasional rain, but not nearly what the R&A expected when it went to a two-tee start of the first time in history. Fowler, who was six shots behind going into the third round, ran off three straight birdies to start the back nine and shared the lead when McIlroy made bogey on No. 12. It all changed so quickly. Fowler made a bogey on the 14th hole. McIlroy, playing in the group behind, drilled a 35-foot birdie putt that put his lead back to two shots. "Rickie was just getting close to me," McIlroy said. "I could hear the cheers in front of me. I just wanted to get ahead. To hole a putt like that was huge." And thats when he turned it on. McIlroy blasted a drive on the par-5 16th hole and hit 4-iron from 252 yards over a pot bunker to the left side of the green and made a 15-foot eagle putt. That restored his lead to five shots, for Fowler had driven into a pot bunker and made a bogey. Fowler recovered with a superb shot out of the pot bunker on the 18th to tap-in range for birdie. That put the American into the final group for the second straight major, both times a long way out of the lead. He trailed Martin Kaymer by five shots going into the last day of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Fowler didnt get closer than four shots from Kaymer in the final round. Garcia, who played in final group with Woods at Royal Liverpool in 2006, certainly had his chances. He was only three shots behind at the turn until missing a short birdie putt on No. 12 and failing to convert so many other chances. Garcia had a 69 and was seven shots behind, along with Dustin Johnson (71). "Its going to be difficult," Garcia said. "But well give it a shot." David Hearn (71) of Brantford, Ont., was tied for 31st at 2-under par. This was Rorys show, just like it was at Congressional, just like it was at Kiawah Island when he won the 2012 PGA Championship. And yet the biggest crowd belonged to Woods, the sports biggest star who is playing his first major since back surgery four months ago. Woods narrowly made the cut on Friday, opened with two straight birdies and that was about all the excitement. He made another double bogey, another triple bogey and shot 73. Woods was 19 shots out of the lead. The biggest challenge for McIlroy might be to avoid looking ahead. It was hard. Asked what it would mean to be one major away from a Grand Slam at 25, McIlroy said, "It would mean a lot of hype going into Augusta next year." "Id be in pretty illustrious company," he said. Running Shoes Outlet Australia . -- D.A. Points was disqualified Friday from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for using a training device while waiting to play the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. Running Shoes Cheap Australia . -- Derek Jeter says the New York Yankees have no choice but to move forward now that Alex Rodriguez has accepted his suspension for the 2014 season. http://www.australiarunningshoescheap.com/. -- The Toronto Maple Leafs are tightening the race for second place in the Atlantic Division. Best Cheap Running Shoes Australia . -- Olympic medallist Jennifer Abel of Laval, Que. Running Shoes Discount Australia . That little deal worked out in a big way for the Mavericks. Nowitzki had 21 points Tuesday night to pass Oscar Robertson for 10th on the NBAs career scoring list, leading the Mavs to a 95-83 victory over the Utah Jazz.His latest victim called the ban excessive, Maradona suggested on Argentine TV FIFA might as well handcuff him and throw him in Guantanamo and the Uruguayan president suggested a hidden agenda. In banning Luis Suarez for nine international matches and all football related activity for a period of four months and fining him $100,000, FIFA made no provision for mandating the 27-year old Uruguayan to receive the professional help he so evidently requires. FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke stated Friday Suarez should seek treatment is clear evidence the governing body failed in this regard. I cant imagine a scenario in any of our major sports leagues where rehabilitation wasnt a significant aspect of any sanctioning handed down to a repeat offender. FIFA could learn much from the North American model where rehabilitation is an integral aspect of the disciplinary process. Which is a theme picked up by FIFPro, the players global union, who questioned why rehabilitation and professional support was not mandated by FIFA. The first part of that process is taking responsibility. Instead we learned this morning in his statement to the FIFA Disciplinary Panel, Suarez denied he deliberately bit Italys Giorgio Chiellini. "I lost my balance, making my body unstable and falling on top of my opponent. At that moment I hit my face against the player leaving a small bruise on my cheek and a strong pain in my teeth." During post-match comments to Uruguayan TV Suarez claimed Chiellini bumped into him with his shoulder. This is in stark contrast with video which clearly shows it was Suarez who initiated contact between the players. "Deliberate, intentional and without provocation," was the disciplinary panels conclusion. Which could be the same words used for the two previous Suarez suspensions for biting an opponent. The first of which occurred only months after the world witnessed his deliberate hand-ball in the final minute of Uruguays quarter-final match against Ghana. In doing so Suarez denied opportunity for an African nation to make it to the semifinals of a World Cup for the first time in competition history. In the referees match report from Tuesdays pivotal Group D encounter Marco Rodriguez admits neither he, nor of any of his assistants saw the incident and that that was reason why Suarez was not punished at the time. In time we may well look back at this as the tipping point for introducing video replays.dddddddddddd During the FIFA congress which was held in the days leading up to the World Cup Sepp Blatter stunned all in attendance when he introduced the idea of allowing coaches through the course of a match two opportunities to challenge on-field decisions. Goal line technology was introduced for this World Cup as a consequence of not allowing the goal Frank Lampard scored in Englands Round-of-16 match against Germany at South Africa 2010. We saw GLTs worth only four days into Brazil 2014, when France was rightfully awarded a goal in their opening match against Honduras. Another distasteful aspect to all this is the way companies have looked to exploit for commercial gain one of the most unsavoury incidents in World Cup Finals history. The exception to this has been the online poker company who announced yesterday they had terminated their partnership with Suarez. A sizeable crowd of fans including the Uruguayan President had flocked to the airport in Montevideo in support of their ‘hero Thursday night in anticipation of his return home. However Suarez arrived back in Montevideo on a private jet in the early hours of Friday. Avoiding the fanfare and the spotlight in favour of anonymity might just be a first sign Suarez finally understands the full consequence of his irrational actions last Tuesday. Suarez now has to ignore the sentiment of a nation, the loyalty of his manager and the outpouring of sympathy he has received in favour of the wise words from Uruguays original football icon, Alcides Ghiggia. Ghiggia - who scored the winning goal for Uruguay when they beat Brazil in the 1950 World Cup Final - has been outspoken in his criticism of Suarez. Lets hope when Uruguay take to the pitch for the pre-match warm up ahead of Saturday afternoons Round-of-16 match against Colombia they dont wear t-shirts in support of Suarez, as Liverpool players did in December, 2011 when he was given an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester Uniteds Patrice Evra. Instead they hopefully counsel Suarez to admit the errors of his ways and take full responsibility. Only then can he begin the long journey back to the sanctuary of the football pitch. Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca @TheSoccerNoel on Twitter TSN Radio is an official licensed radio broadcaster of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Check www.tsn.ca/radio for the broadcast schedule in your home town. ' ' '