Rory McIlroy shot to the top of the WGC-Cadillac Championship leaderboard with a superb third round to take advantage of a faltering Adam Scott.

There was a five-shot turnaround after overnight leader Scott teed off atop the standings, as McIlroy carded four-under-par 68 for a three-stroke advantage on Saturday.

Scott could only manage a third-round 73, allowing McIlroy to move into the lead at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida.

McIlroy produced on a bogey-free round, holing four birdies on a near-perfect day for the Northern Irishman.

A par on the opening hole set the tone for the world number three and he shot another three birdies on the front nine, before opening the back nine with his fourth and carding pars for the remainder of his round.

"The wind was coming from a different direction which made the course more difficult today," McIlroy said on NBC after finishing his round. 

"I felt like I had been making too many mistakes but I didn't make many today. I putted well and I feel really comfortable."

Scott struck three bogeys and two birdies during his round and is now tied in second place with defending champion Dustin Johnson, whose round of 71 took him to nine under overall.

Johnson started the round well with a first-hole birdie but bogeyed the fourth hole before recovering on the back nine with birdies on holes 12 and 16.

Though, a bogey on the last hole denied him outright second spot.

Phil Mickelson (70), Bubba Watson (71) and Danny Willett (72) round out the top five, five shots adrift of McIlroy.

Two strokes further back are Rafa Cabrera Bello (67), Sergio Garcia (67) and Anirban Lahiri (71).

Meanwhile, world number one Jordan Spieth posted a one-over-par 73 to be 10 shots off the pace.