Rory McIlroy back on track with 66 at Wells Fargo Championship

Rory McIlroy "cancelled out" his second-round 76 in the Wells Fargo Championship with a five-under 66 in the third round at Quail Hollow.

The Northern Irishman experienced a 29th birthday to forget on Friday as he tumbled down the leaderboard by equalling his worst round at the course, which put him in danger of missing the cut until he managed to salvage a par at the last.

As a result McIlroy, who carded a 68 in the opening round, was out early in good conditions on Saturday and he moved back up through the field to three under with some solid golf.

A birdie at the first was wiped out by a bogey at the third, but he added further gains at the fifth and seventh before going on a charge with four successive birdies from the 14th.

A bogey at the final hole took some of the shine off the round, but McIlroy was still content with his efforts.

"A little better," he told Sky Sports. "The course is a lot easier than it was yesterday and I played a bit better and holed a few more putts.

"So it was nice to shoot something a bit better, sort of cancel out what happened yesterday and maybe give myself half a chance tomorrow."

McIlroy won at Quail Hollow in 2010 - the first of his two wins in the tournament - when he fired a 62 in the final round after going into the weekend nine off the pace, as he did this time, and shooting a 66 on the Saturday.

"Obviously the course was a little different [then]," he said. "I'm not sure if I'll only be five shots behind going into the last day. The course is easier, there's a few up-tees, so I'd expect someone to get into double digits before the end of the day."

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Despite still having a chance of victory this week, McIlroy is already looking ahead to next week's Players Championship.

"Honestly, I was just trying to treat this weekend like a bit of practice going into next week," he added.

"I still didn't play great out there today but I got it around and I made some good birdies from the rough, some good saves and stuff.

"But I'll need to play better tomorrow and definitely need to make some improvements going into next week as well. So tomorrow is another chance to try and make some improvements and get a bit of confidence going into next week."

Tiger Woods started the day alongside McIlroy on two over and also made progress up the leaderboard to one under with a three-under 68, which mixed six birdies with three bogeys.

Woods had struggled badly with his putter during the first two rounds and, although his putting was much better, he was still frustrated with his score.

"I changed my stroke a little bit today but I was so close to shooting about seven under on that back nine," he said.

"It was one of those rounds I could have easily shot seven or eight under par without really doing much and I end up with three, which is a good number but also really disappointing too.

"My ball striking has been fine. I just haven't made anything. If I was just putting normal I would have been up there next to the lead."