NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Rory has come roaring back.
Rory McIlroy, the 37-year-old from Northern Ireland, was tied for 105th after shooting a 4-over-par 74 in Thursday’s opening round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.
After shooting a 4-under-par 66 in Saturday’s third round, McIlroy stood at 3-under for the tournament and was in a tie for third, one shot back, when he completed his round.
McIlroy, who’s a month removed from winning his second consecutive Masters and is ranked No. 2 in the world, got off to a hot start, shooting 32 on the front nine.
When he birdied the 13th hole, he got to 4-under for the tournament and was in a tie for the lead.
McIlroy, who was one of only two players to post a bogey-free round on Friday en route to a 3-under 67, had one blemish on the back nine, a bogey on 17.
He rebounded with a top-class up-and-down for par on 18 after a chip from the front of the undulating green.
McIlroy is trending.
He’s gone 74, 67 and 66. He took 34 putts in Thursday’s opening round, 30 on Friday and needed only 27 on Saturday.
In the six major championships McIlroy has won in his career, he entered the final round with at least a share of the lead.
When he walked off the course shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday with many of the top players still on the course, he was one shot off the lead.
“I felt like I had a chance to do this,’’ he said after the round. “I feel like I still did enough to think I have a chance going into [Sunday]’’
McIlroy lamented his “really bad finish on Thursday,’’ adding, “But at the end of the day, I was only seven back. I thought back to last year’s Masters. I was seven back after the first day, and I was two ahead going into the final day.
“So, there’s a lot of golf and a lot of things can happen during the course of a golf tournament. I’ve progressively just got a little bit closer to the lead each day. We’ll see what happens.
“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’m close enough to the lead where I feel like I’ve still got a good chance.’’
McIlroy said his plan was to go back to his rental house and watch some of the afternoon rounds on TV and watch a movie.
“I started Batman ‘The Dark Knight’ last night, so I’ll try and finish that,’’ he said. “That’s one of my go-tos to try to forget about things.’’
Clearly, McIlroy felt more comfortable with the more forgiving course conditions on Saturday, something he predicted after his round on Friday.
“With these pin locations, I feel like they have really tried to protect the course the first couple of days,’’ he said. “It seems like they have used up a lot of the really hard ones. So, depending upon a little bit calmer conditions [over the weekend] and maybe a couple more favorable hole locations, I think guys that are here for the weekend … I think everyone’s got to feel like they have got a chance.
“At five back, I do feel like I’m right in the tournament.’’
As it turned out, he was right,
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
