Rory McIlroy insists he still has a chance to challenge for back-to-back major titles after ‘climbing out of a hole’ to charge into PGA Championship contention.
The Masters champion, looking to become the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win the first two majors of the calendar year, set the early third-round clubhouse target after an impressive four-under 66 at Aronimink Golf Club.
McIlroy was seven strokes off the early lead after a four-bogey finish to his opening-round 74, then five behind the halfway leaders despite a second-round 67, with the world No 2 pushing himself further up the leaderboard after mixing six birdies with two bogeys on Saturday.
The latest major fightback leaves McIlroy on three under, and two shots behind leader Alex Smalley, in position to challenge for a third PGA Championship victory, with the six-time major champion pleased with his response to a slow start to the tournament.
"I had a really bad finish on Thursday, but at the end of the day, I was only seven back," McIlroy added. "I thought back to last year's Masters [where he won] - I was seven back after the first day and I was two ahead going into the final day.
"There's a lot of golf and a lot of things can happen during the course of a golf tournament. I've progressively just got a little bit closer to the lead each day.
"We'll see what happens, but I've climbed my way out of that hole a little bit. I'm proud of myself for doing that, but there's one more day left, and I feel like, if I can - depending on what the guys do - be close enough to the lead, I feel like I've still got a good chance."
McIlroy made an early statement with intent after a good drive and wedge into the first set up an eight-foot birdie, only to squander a chance from a similar distance at the next and then bogey the fourth after missing from four feet.
The world No 2 responded by rolling in from 12 feet at the fifth and firing a monster drive onto the green at the 397-yard sixth, setting up a two-putt birdie, then capped off an impressive front-nine 32 by taking advantage of the par-five ninth.
McIlroy grabbed a share of the lead when he holed a 10-foot birdie at the 11th and got up and down from the greenside bunker to find another at the driveable 13th, with a 12-foot par-save at the 15th keeping him bogey-free on his back nine.
He failed to take advantage of the par-five 16th and dropped a shot at the par-three next after finding sand off the tee, with McIlroy recovering from a wayward drive at the last to convert from eight feet and avoid a bogey-bogey finish.
"If I had to play the last three holes at one under instead of one over, I would have got to five (under)," McIlroy added. "I 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.
"I didn't get there. I made, I guess, a couple of mistakes the last three holes. I feel like I still did enough to think I have a chance."
McIlroy questioned the course set-up heading into the weekend, where just eight strokes separated the leaders from those who made the cut on the number, with the 37-year-old admitting players were frustrated by the conditions.
"I wasn't trying to be critical of the set-up," McIlroy told Your Site. "All I was trying to say is that when you have these big old golf courses that have been renovated - with wide fairways, big greens - and you start tucking the pins away, everyone plays the exact same way.
"That's why you see such a bunched leaderboard. Very entertaining for the people watching at home, very frustrating for the people out there playing.
"You heard Scottie [Scheffler], Shane [Lowry], and me… It was a frustrating first couple of days because it felt like some of your good shots weren't getting rewarded with where some of the hole locations were. I think we were all a little frustrated when we came off the course yesterday."
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