NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – There was no panic by Rory McIlroy after his opening 74 here at the PGA Championship.
He’s already overcome that deficit once before to win a major.
Seven back to start his second round, McIlroy finds himself squarely in the mix at Aronimink after rounds of 66-67. He was the clubhouse leader at 3 under when he finished his third round.
For inspiration Thursday night, all he needed to recall was last year’s Masters, when a sloppy second-nine finish on the opening day left him seven back. By the start of the final round, he was two shots clear.
In other words: There was plenty of golf left.
“A lot of things can happen during the course of a golf tournament,” he said Saturday. “I’ve progressively got a little bit closer to the lead each day.”
The same thing has unfolded here at the PGA, where McIlroy closed with four consecutive bogeys for the first time in his career to shoot 4 over on Day 1. Still, after a range session to try to correct his errant driver, McIlroy was relieved to see he was – again – just seven shots back after the opening day.
He shot a bogey-free 67 on Friday and then capitalized during the calmer early-afternoon conditions Saturday to get to 5 under par for the day, in a share of the lead, at one point.
But McIlroy let a few shots go over the final three holes, failing to get up-and-down for birdie on the easily reachable par-5 16th and then slightly misjudged his tee shot on the wind-aided 17th, his ball burying in the front greenside bunker for a bogey.
Tied for 105th after the first round, McIlroy could become the fifth player to win a major after sitting outside the top 50.
“I’ve climbed my way out of that hole a little bit,” he said. “I’m proud of myself for doing that.”
