Rory McIlroy upbeat but needs vintage final round to win US PGA

Rory McIlroy knows he will need a magical final round performance to end his major drought at the PGA Championship. 

The Northern Irishman cut a despondent figure at the start of the week, fighting illness and technical issues with his game, but he battled admirably once more around a monstrous Oak Hill layout on Saturday. 

He matched Friday’s one-under 69 at a rain-sodden moving day in Rochester to give himself the slimmest hope of mounting a charge for the title.

• Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka booed at US PGA

• Unfamiliar rule break at PGA leads to penalty

Three bogeys in four demanding front nine holes derailed the momentum after a flying start, but McIlroy was pleased with his  powers of resolve to finish under par for his round.

Asked what made him most proud, McIlroy said: “My ability to just stick in there and show a little bit of grit and determination and not let rounds get away from me too much. 

“I made a good save – two good putts for bogeys today on the 6th and 17th there.  So just doing things like that, not letting the round really get away from you. That’s what I’ve done well this week. 

“I’d obviously like to be a couple of shots closer to the lead, but with how I’ve felt this week, if you had told me on Thursday night that I’d be going into Sunday with a realistic chance to win this golf tournament, I would have taken it.”

However, McIlroy must surely somehow now muster the lowest round of the week to give himself any chance come Sunday evening, with leader Brooks Koepka five ahead on six-under par after a scintillating second consecutive round of 66.

“I just needed to keep those mistakes off the card,” he added. “I need to keep hope. I have to believe that there is a score like that out there because looking at the board, (65) is probably a score I’m going to have to shoot, or something like that to have a chance to win.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.