CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rory McIlroy managed to knock 10 shots off his score overnight.
The two-time Wells Fargo winner backed up a Friday 76 with a Saturday 66 to move to 3 under par for the week, just four strokes off the lead when he entered the clubhouse.
“The course was easier,” McIlroy said. “Maybe not quite 10 shots easier, but it was a few shots easier.”
McIlroy’s was one of a handful of low scores Saturday morning, including Peter Uihlein’s 62 and Phil Mickelson’s 64, although he wasn’t all that bolstered by it.
“I didn’t play that well,” he said. “I mean, the score sort of flatters me a little bit even with the bogey at the last.”
The ideal conditions aren’t solely responsible for McIlroy’s improved play, but they certainly helped, considering he’s not quite thrilled with his game at the moment.
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“Sort of everything. I’m just not that comfortable with anything right now,” he said. “I’m trying really hard to hit it in the fairway and then trying really hard to get my irons on-line. It’s all just a little bit of a struggle. So trying to piece it together, but if I can do a little bit of practice this afternoon, yeah, hold it together tomorrow and then try and make some improvements before next week [at The Players].”
McIlroy picked up the first of his two victories here back in 2010, when he failed to break par on Thursday and Friday before catching fire on the weekend and closing 66-62. Asked if he saw any parallels, the Ulsterman was realistic about his chances.
“Yeah, yeah. It seems that way [again],” he said. “I’m not sure what the lead’s going to be by the end of the day, but the leaders are going to have it pretty similar to what we had it this morning. … So I can definitely see someone getting to double digits under par by the end of the day.
“But yeah, it was a good round and it gives me half a chance going into tomorrow.”