Rory McIlroy surges to within one of PGA lead as on-fire Harrington signs for 67
POWER PLAY: Rory McIlroy smokes it down 16 en route to a four under 66 in Round 3 of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania. Pic: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Rory McIlroy had one last save in him before clocking off of a hugely productive moving day.
Walking off the 18th green at Aronimink Golf Club, McIlroy spotted the young son of playing partner Brooks Koepka when Koepka had completely missed the toddler. McIlroy sent the American back to fetch the child and then made his way to scoring.
Perhaps McIlroy had taken some inspiration from his Friday night distraction at the year’s second major. “I'll go back to the house and put the feet up,” he said after his Saturday at the PGA Championship. “I started ‘Batman: The Dark Knight’ last night, so I'll try and finish that. That's one of my go-tos to try to forget about things.”
The Masters champion had had an afternoon to remember in Philadelphia. He signed off on a stellar 4-under 66 which for a little while looked like being even lower. But with the wind picking up in fast then foreboding fashion for the star-studded throng still out on the course, McIlroy’s 3-under clubhouse total felt like more than enough to have him in the thick of contention come Sunday in Pennsylvania.
Sitting just one off the lead as he finished, McIlroy fired six birdies to go with just two bogeys and carded his lowest score of the week. It came off the back of a lot of things feeling good but particularly the putter. He completed his 18 holes with just 27 putts after needing 34 in a letdown of an opening round Thursday.
For a spell on the back nine he was in a share of the lead, the possibility of completing back-to-back major victories becoming a very live prospect. A nine-hole run from the fifth to the 13th found McIlroy in imperious form, carving five birdies out of Donald Ross’s masterpiece, where scoring had been a tricky thing for the first two days. A late bogey at the penultimate hole, however, threatened to spoil things.
The 17th has been a bit of graveyard for Irish competitors in the past 24 hours. Shane Lowry sent a dying duck of a tee shot into its pond yesterday for double bogey then bogeyed it again on Saturday morning. McIlroy saw his tee shot plop down into a horrid line in the bunker, the ball Saturn-ed deep down. McIlroy went with a flat face swing and saw the ball merely hop into the thick fringe.
A first bogey in 13 holes was unlucky. But briefly he threatened to compound that misfortune on the last. Having hit two delectable drives on the signature closing hole over Thursday and Friday he sent his Saturday drive towards the bunker complex which sits below a huge tree. It rested in the thick rough and he chopped his second well short of the green before a gorgeous pitch in left him with an eight-footer for a par which felt much more important than a par. He drained the putt and made for the clubhouse surely hoping that the 30mph gusts which had been forecast would duly arrive.
With the putter singing and his driver again showing the positive effects of Thursday’s marathon range remedy session, McIlroy looks perfectly poised for a Sunday run. How good did the driver feel on moving day? Just head back to the sixth hole, a par four playing 397 yards for the third round. McIlroy unloaded an exocet and drove the green for back to back birdies which sparked that great mid-round run.
With the leaderboard still bunched with big names, McIlroy was keen to see how the afternoon starters would fare in worsening conditions. His own outlook improving bit by bit over the first days brought something very positive to mind — last year’s cathartic triumph at Augusta.
“I wouldn't say [it’s been] a roller coaster of emotions. I had a really bad finish on Thursday, but at the end of the day, I was only seven back,” said McIlroy.
“I thought back to last year's Masters, I was seven back after the first day, and I was two ahead going into the final day. So 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. We'll see what the guys do this afternoon. 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 depending on what the guys do, [I feel I’ll be close enough to the lead, I feel like I've still got a good chance.”
McIlroy was far from alone in finding that moving day momentum — particularly among the middle wave of starters. Xander Schauffele joined him as a co-clubhouse leader on 3-under after an identical 66. Justin Rose went one better to catapult up the leaderboard. Padraig Harrington rolled back the years with a 67 which put the 54-year-old wonder into the top 40. Shane Lowry, alas, couldn’t find the same forward motion, an even-par 70 leaving him down the field.
Fellow Ryder Cup compatriots Jon Rahm and Ludvig Aberg were in a six-strong share of the lead in the early stages of their third round. By late lunchtime local time Saturday there were still a staggering 37 players within three of the lead. Still plenty of golf to play but McIlroy knows he will play a big part before the next name is carved into the Wanamaker on Sunday evening.
Meanwhile Padraig Harrington wants to “have a big day” on Sunday as he shot a superb 67 to remain in touch with the leaders at the US PGA Championship.
The three-time major winner, 54, matched the best round of the first two days with four birdies on his card as he rolled back the years at Aronimink Golf Club and was four off the clubhouse lead.
With low scores being racked up on Saturday, including a five-under 65 from Justin Rose, Harrington knows that lead could stretch away from him, but is determined to get out and show he can still mix it with the best.
“I’d have to wait and see what the leaderboard is at the end of the day,” Harrington, whose last major win came at this championship in 2008, said.
“I’m still hopeful that I’m only going to be half a dozen shots behind going into tomorrow, have a big day, that’s what I look forward to.
“I ain’t going out there to play for second, third, fourth, fifth, anything – I won’t remember it. So I’m hoping I go out there and just fall into the zone tomorrow and it just keeps flowing.”
Harrington played his third round alongside Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan, last week’s Truist Championship winner, who hit two eagles on the back nine to card a 65 and move to within two of the leaders.
“Europe is in a very nice place at the moment, isn’t it, some really good players – told me he follows me, subscribes to me on YouTube, so you know, I’ve helped him out so even better,” Harrington said of Reitan.
“Making the cut is not a bad thing at my age and, of course, if I could go out there and play well and look like I’m competitive with these young guys, that’s not a bad thing either.
“I try and expect more but I certainly appreciate the fact that I still go out there and play with these young guys and good young players and I can hold my own.
“I don’t feel like I’m out there getting in the way.”
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