Rory McIlroy climbs back into contention at PGA Championship - ESPN

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Rory McIlroy believed if he carded a 6-under 64 in the third round of the PGA Championship on Saturday, he'd put enough pressure on the leaders to shoot even par or better.

The two-time reigning Masters champion came close, posting a 4-under 66 to move to 3 under after 54 holes. He was one stroke behind early clubhouse leaders Matti Schmid of Germany and Nick Taylor of Canada, who both posted 5-under 65.

«We'll see what happens,» McIlroy said. «We'll see what the guys do this afternoon. But I've climbed my way out of that hole a little bit, which I'm proud of myself for doing that, but there's one more day left.»

McIlroy put himself in an early hole with a 4-over 74 in the first round. He gained all but one stroke back in the second round, getting him back into contention in the second major of the season.

McIlroy was tied for 105th after the first round. According to Elias Sports Bureau, he would become only the fifth golfer to win a major after being 50th or worse after the first round. Steve Jones, who was tied for 84th after the opening round of the 1996 U.S. Open, was the last golfer to do it.

«I had a really bad finish on Thursday, but at the end of the day, I was only seven back,» McIlroy said. «I thought back to last year's Masters. I was seven back after the first day, and I was two ahead going into the final day. So, there's a lot of golf, and a lot of things can happen during the course of a golf tournament. I've progressively just got a little bit closer to the lead each day.»

McIlroy and others benefited from more advantageous scoring conditions Saturday morning, as the wind lay down and temperatures warmed up. The PGA of America also backed away from its diabolical pin positions in the