 |
| Getty Images |
Rory McIlroy fired a third round 65 at the Wells Fargo Championship on Saturday to reverse the momentum of Friday which saw the two time major champion struggle to stay inside the cut line at Quail Hollow.
Going into Sunday McIlroy holds a share of 11th and six strokes off the lead.
The mood on Saturday was reminiscent of 2010 and it remains to be seen how close McIlroy can get to repeating his win four years ago.
“It’s the exact same,” said the two-time Major champion, who four years ago also made the cut with nothing to spare, before shooting 66 and a final round of 62 to storm to victory.
“I was one-over (for 36 holes) and the lead was nine-under. I’ve shot one less today so I might not need the 62 I shot in 2010, but I’ll take it.”
McIlroy spent nearly an hour on the putting green after the second round, and the work reaped immediate dividends when he teed off early Saturday.
“I putted much better,” he said after rolling in eight birdies to go with a lone bogey.
“I did some work on the putting green last night and I figured out what I need to do out there and it was a really solid round of golf.
“I didn’t hit as many loose shots as yesterday. I played solid tee to greens but the real difference today was the putting. I holed more putts.”
McIlroy’s score could have been better, because he hit a beautiful wedge shot into the par-four 16th, only to watch his ball clatter against the pin and ricochet 18 feet away.
Followed by a huge gallery enjoying the brilliant sunshine, he had a tap-in par at the par-three 17th before getting up-and-down from left of the par-four 18th by sinking an eight-footer.
“It’s going to take something special tomorrow,” he predicted.
