Rory McIlroy surges into PGA Championship contention with a 66 at Aronimink

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Rory McIlroy smashed his drive on the 397-yard sixth hole and landed a beauty on the green to the delight of a roaring Aronimink crowd.

He made a birdie and kept a second straight major victory firmly in sight on a day in which several players made big moves up the leaderboard in more favourable conditions.

The pin placements, the course, nothing bothered McIlroy at Aronimink as he charged back from 105th at the end of Round 1 of the PGA Championship all the way to a share of the lead until he bogeyed 17, finishing at 3 under Saturday, a day after he complained about the setup at Aronimink Golf Club.

“I feel like I still did enough to think I have a chance going into tomorrow,” McIlroy said.

Who would count out McIlroy?

He won the Masters and is trying to join Ben Hogan (1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972), Tiger Woods (2002) and Jordan Spieth (2015) as the only players to win the first two majors of the year in the modern rotation.

The No. 2 player in the world, McIlroy was buried on the leaderboard Thursday after he shot a 74. Only four players in history have ever won a major championship after being 50th or worse at the end of the first round.

His Round 3 was a different story. He had six birdies, 10 pars and two bogeys and shot 66.

“I’ve climbed my way out of that hole a little bit, which is, I’m proud of myself for doing that, but there’s one more day left, and I feel like I’m — again, 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 said.

Two long days at Aronimink produced the highest 36-hole score to par to lead the PGA Championship in 14 years. The 15 players separated by two shots made it the biggest logjam going into a weekend at a major since 2002. At one point Saturday afternoon, there were 28 players separated by two shots.

McIlroy griped about the setup at Aronimink one day earlier. He cushioned his criticism a bit on Saturday.

McIlroy might be angling for his next job as much as he is trying to win his next major. McIlroy, the only European with the career Grand Slam, noted last year he would unwind from a round by watching “The Devil Wears Prada.” That caught the attention of the filmmakers and earned him an invite to cameo in the sequel.

His Saturday night plan?

To watch the thrilling conclusion of the Batman movie, “The Dark Knight.”

On their way down

Justin Thomas, the PGA winner in 2017 and 2022, grabbed a share of the lead at 4 under with a birdie on the sixth hole.

He followed with four straight bogeys to drop off the leaderboard and would up tied for 31st.

Other players who lost ground to the field included top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and Cam Young.

Scheffler followed an opening 3-under 67 with consecutive rounds of 1 over and was at 2-over par for the championship. He dropped 14 places and slipped into a tie for 23rd.

Spieth, needing a PGA victory complete the career Grand Slam, had an even-par 70, tumbling 14 spots on the leaderboard and needing a big day on his 10th attempt to secure his missing major.

Young, a winner this season at The Players Championship and the Cadillac Championship, started the third round at 1 under and was at even-par 210, slipping 22 spots and heading into the final round in a 10-way tie for 31st in the pursuit of his first major victory.

Players make the most of favourable conditions

The wind, cold and rain of the first two rounds largely gave way to warmer weather that may have helped with all the birdies.

Chris Kirk had eight — including five birdies in six holes on the front nine — on his way to a 65 and Michael Kim birdied six of his first seven holes. Justin Rose, who won at Aronimink in the 2010 AT&T National, shot a 5-under 65 to move up the leaderboard and well within striking distance of the lead.

Rose noted subtle differences in the course from one day earlier when he shot a 73 and was in jeopardy of missing the cut before holing out on 18 to make an eagle.

He said the pins were “just a bit more predictable.”

“I’ve heard Scottie say it’s probably the hardest set of pins he’d seen,” Rose said. “That didn’t strike me as that being the case, but yeah, when you think about it, they were incredibly challenging.”

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AP Sports Writer Bob Lentz contributed to this report.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Dan Gelston, The Associated Press