Rory McIlroy makes drastic putting improvement, vaults into contention at bunched TOUR Championship

ATLANTA – Rory McIlroy admits his fuse is shorter than it used to be, but when it burns, it’s as bright as it ever was.

After stumbling through two rounds at East Lake Golf Club, McIlroy found his rhythm on Saturday and quickly got himself back in contention, posting a 7-under 63 to move to 10 under and within striking distance entering the final round of the TOUR Championship.

McIlroy drastically improved his putting in the third round. Ranked near dead last on the greens through 36 holes, the Northern Irishman gained nearly four strokes in the third round, best in the field.

“I feel like I just left myself in better spots on the greens,” said McIlroy, who rattled off five birdies on the inward nine. “I gave myself easier putts, putts that didn't break two ways, and I didn't have a ton – I felt like, when I got it rolling there on the back nine, every putt was like a cup right or a cup left.”

McIlroy also benefited from the new-look East Lake. The course was widened – among a host of other changes – in a broad renovation in 2024. That, to McIlroy’s eye, has created slightly less penalty for offline shots, leading to less separation on the leaderboard. After the first round, the spread from first to last on the leaderboard was only eight shots. McIlroy was beating only five players after 36 holes, but briefly held a share of the lead on Saturday afternoon when he signed his scorecard.

It still required great golf to get there. After dropping a shot on the par-3 second, McIlroy birdied four of his next five holes. He hit it close on each, with none of his birdie putts coming from outside 10 feet. The long putts began to drop on the back nine. He holed a crucial 11-footer for par at the 13th hole, then poured in three birdies in a row from outside 12 feet, beginning at the 15th. He nearly added a fourth at the 18th, but his 19-foot attempt slid just by.

“I still felt like I played okay the last couple days, just wasn't getting as much out of my game as I wanted to,” McIlroy said. “I pieced it together today and ended up obviously with a better score.”

McIlroy’s Saturday performance looked a lot like his effort at the BMW Championship last week. After struggling mightily in the first Playoffs event in Memphis, McIlroy briefly returned home to Florida to work with his coach, Michael Bannon. The two found a swing feel and pre-shot rehearsal that corrected what was going wrong, and McIlroy has quickly been able to engrain that feel under competitive pressure. He’s first in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and fifth in SG: Approach this week.

“The ball striking has been there. I think I was second in ball striking to Gary Woodland the first couple days,” McIlroy said. “It was another good display today.”

As McIlroy finished, he was unsure what might be required of him on Sunday. The overnight leaders were just making the turn, and while McIlroy was within one of the lead, he expected that to stretch a bit further.

However, the leaderboard settled late on Saturday, and McIlroy felt he would have a chance to win. He just needed to find something early and create a spark.

There is still some fuse left to burn.