Newtown Square (United States) (AFP) – Rory McIlroy charged into the hunt for the greatest three-day fightback victory in major golf history with a sizzling four-under par 66 in Saturday’s third round of the PGA Championship. Second-ranked McIlroy, last month’s Masters winner, settled for standing on three-under 207 after 54 holes at Aronimink, where tough pin positions eased and players charged for the lead.
“I felt like I had a chance to do this,” McIlroy said of his rise from five adrift. “I feel like I still did enough to think I have a chance going into tomorrow.” McIlroy shared 105th after the first round. No player worse than 84th after the first 18 holes has ever won a major title. The 37-year-old from Northern Ireland could become the first PGA Championship winner to shoot 74 in the opening round since Payne Stewart in 1989, having closed with four bogeys Thursday before spending hours at the driving range to solve his tee shot troubles.
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“I pride myself on managing my game well, learning as I go and trying to problem solve as the week goes on,” McIlroy said. “I went and worked on it, tried to get a feeling I was comfortable with. I’ve certainly driven the ball better the last couple of days. Still not perfect but much better, giving myself opportunities from the fairways and being able to make more birdies because of it.”
McIlroy was seven strokes adrift after 18 holes but thought back to the same situation after his first round at last year’s Masters, where he went on to win to complete a career Grand Slam. “I was seven back after the first day, and I was two ahead going into the final day,” McIlroy said. “There’s a lot of golf and a lot of things can happen. I’ve progressively just got a little bit closer to the lead each day. We’ll see what happens. But I’ve climbed my way out of that hole a little bit. I’m proud of myself for doing that, but there’s one more day left, and I feel like I’ve still got a good chance.”
Not since Jordan Spieth in 2015 has a player won the first two majors in a year. Not since Jack Nicklaus in 1975 has a player won the Masters and PGA Championship in the same year. McIlroy admitted the sloped greens and difficult hole positions at Aronimink probably thrill fans while frustrating players. “When you have a set of greens like this, you can start to frustrate people pretty easily,” McIlroy said. “It’s frustrating to us, but at the same time, it creates a hell of an entertaining championship.”
McIlroy birdied six of the first 13 holes to briefly share the lead but stumbled with a bogey at the par-three 17th after finding a bunker off the tee. McIlroy sank an 11-foot par putt at 15 and curled in a seven-footer for par at 18 to stay one adrift, missing his score goal by a shot. “Didn’t quite get there, but just setting yourself these little targets, it helps you just lock in and focus on yourself,” he said. “I’ve done a good job of that over the past couple days.”
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