Rory McIlroy surges into contention at PGA Championship

The Northern Irishman is three under after three rounds at the difficult Aronimink Golf Club, three shots behind solo leader Alex Smalley. Six birdies and two bogeys saw him move nicely up the leaderboard. His booming driver certainly helped, as he drove the 397-yard sixth hole.

"I wasn't trying to hit it on the green," McIlroy told the press.

"I was just trying to get it up there somewhere around the green. I knew if I hit it good, I could get it close to [the] front edge. It was a perfect line. I think the fairways are drying out. They're all cut down grain, so they are getting very fast. So if you can get the ball rolling on the fairways, it can go an awfully long way."

McIlroy's 66 is a huge improvement from his opening round 74. But the ebbs and flows of major championship golf on a difficult course have kept him in the running.

"I had a really bad finish on Thursday, but at the end of the day, I was only seven back," reflected McIlroy.

"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.

"We'll see what happens. 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."