Rory McIlroy insists he will have to “fight” today if he’s to end his seven-year wait for his fifth Major after he fired a four-under 67 to go into the final day of the US Open just two strokes off the lead at Torrey Pines.

Ten years after romping to a record eight-shot win and his maiden Major win in the 2011 US Open at Congressional, he has a chance today to make amends for seven years of pain as he goes out in the final round tied for fourth with Bryson DeChambeau (68), two shots behind Canadian Mackenzie Hughes (68), Louis Oosthuizen (70) and playing partner Russell Henley (71).

“It takes just really good golf solid play, some mental fortitude,” he said of what’s required to win a US Open.
“It Is the most demanding golf tournament in the world mentally and you have to keep your wits about yourself and really stay in the present, stay in the moment and I really had to remind myself of that today.

“2011 felt like a walk in the park compared to this and if I am going to get another US Open, I am going to have to fight for it a little more than I did 10 years ago.”

Scores

Pleased to make five birdies and just one bogey on a course that suits his eye, he added: “I was pleased I stayed patient out there, especially on the front nine when I had some chances and didn’t take them.“
Asked what it would mean to win, he said: "It would mean an awful lot. I am just happy I have given myself a chance. It's felt like a while since I've had a chance to win a Major going into Sunday.

“It was great to play a good round of golf today. It’s not going to be as easy as 10 years ago but my game feels good and a round like today proves I can go out there again and try and do the same thing tomorrow.”

Hughes put five successive missed cuts behind him as he raced home in 32 for his 68 as Oosthuizen made a 45 footer down the 18th green for eagle to join the Canadian and overnight leader Henley at the top as Richard Bland shot 77 to fall back to tied 21st on one-over.

Bland is still there with an outside chance as one of 28 players within six shots of the lead.

If McIlroy is just two strokes back on three-under, Jon Rahm (72) is also well in the hunt on two-under alongside Scottie Scheffler (70) and Matthew Wolff (73) with Dustin Johnson (68), Collin Morikawa (70), Christian Bezuidenhout (70), Xander Schauffele (72), and Kevin Streelman (72(,

There are a host of big names on level par including major winners Francesco Molinari (69), Brooks Koepka (71) and Justin Thomas (71) while Jordan Spieth (68), Martin Kaymer (69) and even Lee Westwood (71) could make a run from the pack on one-over.

McIlroy certainly produced a stunning display in imperial purple on moving day to set the clubhouse target on three-under-par before the leaders came down the final few holes.

Ten years to the day since he cruised to that eight-shot maiden Major win at Congressional, the 32-year old succeeded in his goal of playing with the happy-go-lucky attitude of a 22-year old to give himself a chance of ending his near seven-year quest for his fifth Major at Torrey Pines today.

He’s been studying the stoic philosophy of the Roman emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius, explaining at the start of the week that his coping mechanism for dealing with the pressure of winning Major was to act like it didn’t matter.

“I guess by being indifferent,” he said when asked how he deals with the pressure. “Not by not caring, but by not putting myself under pressure that I have to care.”

It’s not indifference in the modern sense but in the stoic sense of having the strength to accept that you are strong enough to deal with whatever comes your way.

Six shots behind Bland and Henley starting the day, he played the front nine in one-under, but it might have been several shots better.

But it was his start to the back nine and his reaction to two tricky situations coming home that pointed to a change in his attitude compared to the player who has often faltered in Majors since the most recent of his four wins almost seven years ago.

After winning four of his first 25 Majors, he's winless in his last 24 but that could change today.

He knew a score was on the cards in benign conditions after Paul Casey shot a 67 to get back to level par alongside Ian Poulter, who shot 68.

Even though he pushed his opening tee shot into a fairway bunker, he still gave himself a 15 footer for birdie and went on to hit the first nine greens in regulation.

A massive drive at the second, followed by a 60-yard pitch to four feet, set up his first birdie of the day.
But he couldn’t hit it close enough for the remainder of the outward journey, firing approaches to 16 feet at the third, 45 feet (fourth), 20 feet (fifth), 45 feet (sixth), 28 feet (seventh), 25 feet (eighth) and 11 feet (ninth) to walk away with stress-free pars.

The first three holes on the back nine are amongst the four most difficult on the course. But McIlroy played them in two-under, and it might have been even better.

At the 10th, he ran up his 140-yard approach from the left rough to five feet, missed high with a slick nine footer at the 218-yard 11th, but then produced a stroke of genius at the 12th.

A poor drive in the right rough meant he came up short of the green in the right rough. But he pitched in from 20 yards for birdie — his fourth hole-out from off the green this week—moving him to within three shots of the lead on two-under.

He had another stroke of luck at the par-five 13th, hitting the flag with his 260-yard approach and rebounding to the back of the green rather than into a bunker or the rough. After two-putting from the back of the green to get back to within three of the lead, he parred the 14th but hooked his drive into the barranca at the 15th.

Blocked out by eucalyptus trees, 240 yards from the green, he was forced to hook a long iron to get back into position and left himself a 45-yard pitch he knocked to four feet and salvaged a valuable bogey.

He gave a little fist-pump after that one and fist-pumped again at the 199-yard 16th as he made a tricky seven-footer for par, having found sand with his tee shot.

“Yeah, huge, huge to keep momentum,” he said of the 15th and 16th. “As I said, this is the only tournament in the world where you fist-pump a bogey. Only losing one there was a big deal, and getting it up-and-down out of the bunker on 16 and making that birdie on 18 just to get that shot back that I lost, really big.

He then parred the 17th and completed a dream round at the 533-yard 18th, following a perfect drive with a 207-yard approach to the back of the green to set up a closing two-putt birdie for that 67

“I thought like two 68s over the weekend from where I was after Friday was going to have a good chance,” he added. “I've done the first part of that job. Now it's up to me tomorrow to go out and try to play a similar round of golf, and yeah, that's it.

“I'm trying to think of the last time where I really felt like I had a chance. Carnoustie in '18 felt like I maybe had half a chance, going into the final day at Pebble in 2019. But apart from that, there's been some good finishes but never felt like I was in the thick of things. As I said, I'm just excited for the opportunity to have a chance and be in one of the final groups.”

He put his big improvement on Friday’s round down to being more conservative.

“I think just accepting hitting my approach shots to the middle of the green,” he said. “I got pulled into being overly aggressive a couple of times out there yesterday, and I thought the pin positions were -- they've been a lot trickier the last two days, but I hit good drives yesterday on 14 and on 5, and going at pins and short-siding myself and making bogey from there.

“They're just huge momentum killers, so accepting the fact, okay, I'm going to hit a wedge 20 feet away, I still have a decent chance of holing it, but if I don't, make par, move on. I think that's typical U.S. Open golf. You have to accept that middles of greens and pars are good, and I got into that mindset today.”

As for Shane Lowry, the Open champion had another mixed day, finding just six fairways as he carded a one-over 72 to on five-over-par.

The Offaly man — two over for the par-fives this week compared to three-under for Hughes, five-under for Oosthuizen and two-under for Henley — had a string of early chances but dropped a shot at the sixth, then birdied the eighth and ninth before coming home in two-over.

He bogeyed the 12th, birdied the par-five 13th, three-putted the 16th (missing from inside three feet for par), before screwing his third back into the pond at the 18th.

He got up and down for a six but tossed the ball back into the pond in disgust after moving up only a handful of spots on the leaderboard to 45th.