PGA Championship: Rory McIlroy 'in decent position' after impressive third-round 69 at Oak Hill
Rory McIlroy carded back-to-back 69s to move to one under at the PGA Championship and kept him in touch with the leaders going into the final round at Oak Hill; Watch live on Sunday from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf
By Ali Stafford at Oak Hill
Last Updated: 21/05/23 12:51pm
Rory McIlroy paid tribute to his own mental resilience and admitted his game still is not in great shape, despite keeping himself in contention at the PGA Championship.
McIlroy said he "couldn't believe" he was only five strokes off the halfway lead after struggling off the tee over the opening two days, with the Northern Irishman still not full happy with his game despite moving up the leaderboard with a third-round 69.
The four-time major champion - chasing a first major victory since winning this event in 2014 - found more fairways as he mixed five birdies with four bogeys in heavy rain at Oak Hill, putting him in touch with the lead heading into Sunday's final round.
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"I think I still don't feel like my game is in great shape," McIlroy admitted it post-round. "I've held it together well. I've held some good putts. I've scored well. I probably hit it a little better off the tee today than I did the first couple of days.
"I think this tournament and especially in these conditions and on this golf course, the non-physical parts of the game I think are way more important this week than the physical parts of the game. I think I've done those well, and that's the reason that I'm in a decent position."
McIlroy opened with back-to-back pars and rolled in a six-foot birdie at the par-three third, with the Northern Irishman adding another from a similar distance at the par-three fifth to get within three of the lead.
The former world No 1 holed from six feet to salvage a bogey at the sixth after taking two attempts to get out of thick rough around the green, then failed to get up and from a greenside bunker at the eighth.
McIlroy missed from six feet to save par at the ninth, seeing him reach the turn in 36, although recovered to follow a close-range birdie at the 12th by taking advantage of the par-five next to get back level par for his round.
The 34-year-old recovered from a wayward tee shot at the driveable to avoid dropping a shot at the 14th and holed from 12 feet to save par at the next, then added a six-foot birdie at the 16th to jump inside the top-five.
McIlroy hit a wide off the 17th tee and then pitched out a fairway bunker to the back of the green with his third shot, resulting in a bogey-five, before a close-range par at the last kept him under par for the tournament and left him eyeing a strong finish to the second major of the year.
"If I look at today, I made enough birdies to shoot a score like that [65]," McIlroy added. "I just needed to keep those mistakes off the card. I need to keep hope. I have to believe that there is a score like that out there because looking at the board, it's probably a score I'm going to have to shoot something like that to have a chance to win.
"I'd obviously like to be a couple of shots closer to the lead, but I think with how I've felt this week, if you had have told me on Thursday night that I'd be going into Sunday in the top five and with a realistic chance to win this golf tournament, I would have taken it."
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