Mickelson finds stroke to shoot 66

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — Phil Mickelson took it low Saturday and thought it should have been lower.

“With the three three-putts and a couple other bogeys and mistakes that I made, it could have been in the low 60s and possibly broken the major record (of 63),” Mickelson said after his 66. “That would have been special. But you just can’t make those kind of mistakes.”

It took Mickelson to 5-under for the tournament, probably not within striking distance. It was easily his lowest round in a major this year and was one off his best score of the year, at the St. Jude Classic.

“I finally hit enough good shots,” he said. “I hit a lot of good quality shots and made some good putts. But I did the hard things very well and the easy things not so well today.”

Mickelson hasn’t won any tournament since the 2013 British Open. He came close at last year’s PGA where he was second to Rory McIlroy.

RORY’S UP & DOWN DAY

Rory McIlroy started and ended his third round on fire but he couldn’t keep the bogeys off his card. The World No. 1 birdied two and four, then ran in a 64-foot putt for an eagle on five. But he followed that up with a bogey out of the greenside bunker, the first of four on his day. Birdies on 16 and 18 gave him a 68. “I got off to a dream start, really,” he said. “But to give those shots away again on six and eight, you really have to battle to shoot 4-under in the end.”

McIlroy, returning from an ankle injury, added, “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.”

McIlroy said after his round that he’s going to take two weeks off. That means he will not be in the field at the Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey. He’ll start the FedEx Cup playoffs the following week in Boston.

REED IT AND NO SLEEP

Patrick Reed followed up a 69 with a third-round 67 while battling through illness. “I’m sick,” he said. “I haven’t really slept, it feels like, in three or four days. I keep waking up at 2 in the morning coughing my brains out.” Reed, 5-under for the week, opened with a 75.

ROSY OUTLOOK

Justin Rose will have to come from behind like he did in winning the 2013 U.S. Open, overtaking Mickelson. He bogeyed 18 to shoot 68, and is three shots out. “It’s never easy to close out a major championship,” he noted.

Asked f he had a number in mind for Sunday, Rose said, “If I was to shoot 68 again, you never know. Obviously I would like to go lower than that, but that would be the high end of what I would be thinking.”

IN THE DUST

Dustin Johnson shot 68 and is in a tie for eighth, six shots back. “I had a solid day,” said Johnson, who finished his second round with a 73 in the morning. “I thought I played really well, just missed a few short putts.”