Northern Trust: Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods couldn't inspire each other on day three

When they finished their rounds, Matt Jones of Australia was the only weekend rival behind Woods and McIlroy

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods failed to inspire each other on day three of the Northern Trust in Boston as they finished their rounds with only one of the weekend runners behind them.

McIlroy & # 39; s three-over 74, leaving him level par overall, included two triple bogeys in his first six holes.

Woods, 44, finished bottom one after a scrappy five-bogey 73.

With the leaders not even on the course McIlroy was 15 behind pacesetter Dustin Johnson.

Entering the third round, Johnson & # 39; s 11-under 60 had him two ahead of Scottie Scheffler, who went better with a 59 on Friday.

Former world number one McIlroy and Woods were unable to participate in the Saturday scoring party, however, as their totals only left Australia's Matt Jones in 70th place at that stage of the day.

After an opening bird, McIlroy got a horror show on the par five seconds when his attempted third shot on the greenside bounced off a rock and into the water behind him. After taking a penalty drop, McIlroy's second chip didn't threaten the hole before taking three putts.

The four-time big winner, 31, immediately responded with a birdie but his second triple bogey came in sixth after taking four shots to find the fairway.

The Northern Irishman's back nine was calmer when birdies on the 10th and 18th were split by a dropped shot on 14.

Fifteen-time big winner Woods went to the turn in level par after birdies on second and ninth were eliminated by bogeys on three and five.

A missed green on the short 11th saw him failing to get up and down from a bunker when a six foot par-putt slid past and he took the next three-putted from 9 yards to waste another shot.

A wild second shot from the center of the 14th fairway meant he had to go up and down for another bogey and the only respite in the closing holes was a birdie at the end.

The top 70 players in season points will advance to next week's BMW Championship, which will decide the 30 players to compete in the Tour Championship ending next month in Atlanta.

McIlroy started the week eighth on the list while Woods was 49th.