PGA Championship: Despite keeping himself in the running for the PGA Championship, Rory McIlroy praised his own mental toughness and said his game still needs work.
After labouring off the tee throughout the first two days, McIlroy admitted he “couldn’t believe” he was just five shots off the halfway lead. The Northern Irishman is still not quite satisfied with his game, despite rising up the leaderboard with a third-round 69.
The four-time major winner, who hasn’t won a major since winning this tournament in 2014, found more fairways at Oak Hill as he combined five birdies with four bogeys to stay in the hunt going into Sunday’s final round.
McIlroy acknowledged it after the round: “I guess I still don’t feel like my game is in terrific form. “I’ve kept it well-composed. I’ve blocked a few solid putts. I made a good score. From the tee, I think I struck the ball a little bit better today than I did the first few days.
“I think the non-physical aspects of the game are way more important this week than the physical aspects of the game, especially in these circumstances and on this golf course,” the player said. I believe I handled things successfully, which is why I am in a respectable position.
After making two efforts to escape the dense rough surrounding the green on the sixth hole, the former world No. 1 holed from six feet to save a bogey. However, he was unable to get up and out of the greenside bunker on the eighth hole.
Although McIlroy rebounded to follow a close-range birdie at the 12th by taking advantage of the par-five next to come back level par for his round, he missed from six feet to preserve par at the ninth, seeing him make the turn in 36.
The 34-year-old made up for a poor tee shot at the driveable 14th hole to avoid losing a stroke, then saved par at the following hole by making a putt from 12 feet out. He then added a six-foot birdie at the 16th hole to move into the top five.
A close-range par at the last hole maintained McIlroy under par for the competition and gave him hope for a strong finish to the second major of the year after he missed the fairway off the tee on the 17th hole and pitched out a fairway bunker to the back of the green with his third ball.
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