Rory McIlroy climbing leaderboard at PGA Championship after 66
Rory McIlroy shot a 4-under 66 in the third round of the PGA Championship that had him, at one point tied for the lead. He was in 105th place following the opening round.
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA — As bad as Rory McIlroy felt after an opening-round 74 he described as "s***," when he thought about it, he was in the same spot at this year's PGA Championship as he was at the 2025 Masters after the opening round. And that Masters ended with McIlroy completing the career Grand Slam. The 2026 PGA Championship has one round remaining, but McIlroy is in much better spirts after a 4-under 66 in the third round that had him, at one point, tied for the lead.
He was in 105th place following the first round. "I had a really bad finish on Thursday, but at the end of the day, I was only seven back," McIlroy said after the third round in which he got to 5-under before a bogey on the par-3 17th. "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. 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 and I feel like I'm — depending on what the guys do — close enough to the lead.
I feel like I've still got a good chance. " Since finishing his first round with four consecutive bogeys, the Jupiter resident and world No. 2 has nine birdies and two bogeys.