Rory McIlroy delivered a stellar performance in the third round of the PGA Championship, carding a four-under-par 66 to climb back into contention. The Northern Irishman, who had previously voiced frustrations about the course conditions at Aronimink Golf Club, made a notable U-turn after his round.
McIlroy's Strong Recovery
The 37-year-old Masters champion recovered from a disappointing four-over-par opening round with rounds of 67 and 66, leaving him just one stroke off the lead. Starting more than three and a half hours ahead of the leaders, McIlroy briefly tied the four-under mark held by overnight leaders Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley before a bogey at the 17th set him back.
A Change of Heart on Conditions
Speaking after his round, McIlroy acknowledged the challenging greens but admitted they made for an entertaining championship. "Look, when you have a set of greens like this, you can start to frustrate people a little easier," he said. "You heard it in me last night, you heard it in Scottie [Scheffler]. I saw some of his comments. I think there were a lot of guys frustrated yesterday coming off the course, but again, it's frustrating to us, but at the same time, it creates a hell of an entertaining championship. If I wasn't playing this tournament, I'd love what's going on this week, but watching and playing are two different things."
Plans to Unwind
McIlroy revealed his strategy to relax ahead of the final round: watching Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. "I'll go back to the house and put my feet up. I started Batman: The Dark Knight last night, so I'll try to finish that. That's one of my go-tos to try to forget about things," he said. He also plans to keep an eye on the leaders, hoping the wind continues to blow hard to make conditions tougher for his rivals.
The leaderboard is tightly packed, with players like Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm making birdies behind him. McIlroy remains optimistic about his chances: "I feel like I still did enough to think I have a chance going into tomorrow. If I had played the last three holes at one under instead of one over, I would have got to five under. I sort of thought if I could go out today and get to that, it would make the leaders shoot under par to either be with me or ahead of me. So I didn't get there. I made a couple of mistakes the last three holes."
With scoring conditions easing on Saturday, McIlroy seized his opportunity and now stands firmly in contention for a seventh major title.
