Rory McIlroy encouraged by final-round 66 at Wells Fargo Championship

Rory McIlroy feels he can go in to next week's Players Championship with plenty of confidence after a strong end to the week at Quail Hollow.

The world No 3 saw his hopes of defending his Wells Fargo Championship title all-but ended with a one-over 73 on Saturday, but saved his best until last with a six-under 66 on Sunday.

McIlroy, who also claimed his first PGA Tour victory in the tournament back in 2010, mixed eight birdies with two bogeys during the final round and believes he had the opportunity to get even closer to the top of the leaderboard.

"If you take away the two fives at the start and the end, it was a pretty good scorecard," McIlroy told Sky Sports. "I drove the ball well, hit a lot of better iron shots and converted a lot of chances.

"I did a lot of things right. Looking back at the 73s I shot in the first and third round, I probably just left myself a bit much to do going in to today.

"A 66 is a really good score and I'm positive and confident going in to the next couple of weeks. The Players is a place where I've continued to do a little bit better each and every year, and I'm looking forward to next week with my game rounding in to a little bit of form."

McIlroy made the worst start by failing to get up-and-down at the first, but bounced back by holing a six-footer at the fourth and a two-putt birdie from close-range at the next.

Back-to-back gains from the seventh saw the Northern Irishman reach the turn in 33, before he continued his move up the leaderboard by following a birdie-three at the 10th with a 25-footer at the 11th.

The two-time Quail Hollow champion left a kick-in gain at 14 and picked up another shot at the 16th to move within two of the lead, only to finish with a bogey after narrowly avoiding the hazard with his approach in to the last.

"It has been a good day overall and I felt like I had a chance around the middle of the back nine to post a number, but it just wasn't meant to be," McIlroy added.  "I was trying to post 10-under-par, that was the score in my mind, so I needed to birdie the last couple of holes.

"If I had two shots to take back, then the drive on 15 and the second shot at the last could have made it a different story.

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"There were two soft bogeys at the first and at the 18th. At 18, it was just a complete wrong shot selection and it just wasn't the right shot to play."

Watch Rory McIlroy in action at the Players Championship from May 12-15 live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf