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Rory McIlroy was frustrated at being unable to build on a "dream start" to his third round at the 97th PGA Championship, as his lengthy injury lay-off caught up with him at Whistling Straits.
The defending champion was nine shots off the lead at the halfway stage following a pair of erratic 71s, but he made early strides up the leaderboard when he birdied the second and fourth and then holed a monster 65-foot putt for eagle at the fifth.
But a poor wedge cost him a shot at the next, and he also bogeyed the eighth before mixing four birdies with two further shots on the inward half to post a 68 - six under for the tournament.
McIlroy will have to break the tournament comeback record if he is to retain his title on Sunday, and he admitted his lack of competitive golf while recovering from ankle ligament damage over the last seven weeks had hampered his chances.
"I got off to a dream start, really," said McIlroy, who had not played since the US Open in June after suffering his ankle injury playing football with friends on July 4. "To be four under through five, having not birdied the first and third, was a bonus.
"I knew six was a chance and the way the wind was on seven and eight, they weren't playing as tough as they had been earlier in the week. If you get a good tee shot down on nine, you've got a wedge in your hand there and all of a sudden you're thinking about shooting 30 on the front nine and then you've got some chances on the back nine.
"But to give those shots away again on six and eight, you really have to battle to shoot four under in the end. I guess that probably shows just a lack of competitiveness considering this is the first week back in a few weeks.
"But really positive signs out there. Hitting the ball great. I putted much better today thankfully. So if I keep showing improvement each and every day like I have done, it's a good sign going into the rest of the season."
The 26-year-old conceded that his chances of lifting the Wanamaker Trophy for the third time were remote, but he is refusing to hand over his title without a fight.
"It's all about setting a realistic goal and target," McIlroy added. "I know that the way the back nine's playing there, the leaders could be 14, 15 under by the time the day ends. So, that would leave me eight or nine shots back.
"In the back of your mind, you still think you have a chance, because that's what your competitive nature tells you. But if you're looking at it realistically, I want to go out there tomorrow and shoot the best score that I've shot this week.
"I've stood still a little on Thursday and Friday, but definitely improved today and you want to improve on that again tomorrow. If I do that, I think that, as a whole, the week would be somewhat of a success. It wouldn't be quite what I wanted, but as I said, I can take positives from it and move on."
