Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Rory: One round to go is good
and everything else makes it a lot easier these days.
“It was much tougher for guys back in the day, but I am looking forward to getting home.”
McIlroy made a fast start to improve on successive level par rounds as he had just 31 shots on the front nine.
He birdied the first , fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth after giving a shot back on the fifth.
But McIlroy then missed several putts on the back nine as he recorded three bogeys.
He added: “The one on 11 was a killer and stopped the momentum I had.
“It has been the story of my last few weeks.”
McIlroy’s frustrations boiled over on the 14th when he pulled an iron into the rough off the tee and “tossed” his club.
But the star defended his actions and insisted they didn’t compare to Tyrrell Hatton who broke his wedge on Friday as he missed the cut.
He insisted: “It wasn’t really a club throw was it, it was just a little toss.
“I wasn’t as p **** ed off as Tyrrell Hatton was on Friday.”
McIlroy’s storming start generated hopes in the excited 32,000 crowd of a climb up the leaderboard.
But the four-time Major champion faltered coming back in as he was unable to match his sizzling start.
McIlroy, now coached by Pete Cowen, assessed: “I keep saying I am close and it is proof that it is in there.
“However, it is just a matter of turning that nine holes into 18 holes and then into an entire tournament.
“There are signs that it is going in the right direction.
“It was nice to get the crowd going a little bit, but unfortunately I couldn’t quite keep it going the whole day.
“But I will go out there Sunday to try and play well and shoot a good score and finish on a high.”