NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Rory McIlroy began the week saying Aronimink Golf Club was a course that could be bludgeoned, but for two rounds the course was the one dealing the body blows, not taking them.

Saturday was McIlroy’s vindication.

With winds down in the morning and slightly more accessible pin locations, a wave of red took over the leaderboard, and McIlroy led the charge, shooting a 4-under 66 to pull himself back into the story of this PGA Championship.

The highlight came on the sixth hole, a 397-yard par-4 that was not supposed to be driveable, yet McIlroy did it anyway. His towering draw cleared the bunkers more than 315 yards from the tee and bounded up to the putting surface. From point to point, it measured 369 yards. It was one of six birdies made and a statement of McIlroy’s intentions. Five shots back to begin the day, McIlroy’s only path to contention was through brute force, and he intended to push his way there or fall apart trying.

“I felt like if I went out and – I had a chance to do this. If I had to play the last three holes at 1-under instead of 1-over, I would have got to 5 (under),” McIlroy said. “And I sort of thought if I could go out today and get to that, it would make the leaders shoot under par to either be with me or ahead of me. So I didn't get there. I made, I guess, a couple of mistakes the last three holes. I feel like I still did enough to think I have a chance going into tomorrow.”

The surge only illuminated his Thursday struggles, a 4-over 76 that meant perfect golf would be needed from there to factor in. In total, McIlroy had about 90 minutes of poor golf, a stretch of four bogeys to close his opening round, which dropped him outside the top 100 and pushed his betting odds to 90-1. He went bogey-free in a 3-under second round and pushed himself into a share of the lead early in Saturday’s third round. A late bogey at the 17th took him off the mantle, and a squirrely par on No. 18 was just enough to keep him on the first page of the leaderboard. McIlroy ranked first in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, yet he hit only six fairways.

The setup McIlroy bemoaned on Friday night for keeping the leaderboard too compressed is now the one that’s given him a chance on Sunday. As McIlroy finished his round, there were 14 players within one stroke of the lead. He was one of them. McIlroy wasn’t sure where the lead would settle by day’s end, but he knew he at least gave himself a chance.

“The wind was whipping at the end,” McIlroy said. “We'll see if it continues to blow as hard as that, and as the afternoon goes on, I'd certainly like it to blow as hard as that as the afternoon goes on, but we'll see.”

The wind was down when McIlroy started, which allowed him to put his ears back and go. McIlroy picked up an early birdie at the first hole, taking an aggressive line right over the top of the flagstick. That aggression was crucial all day, but it put him in a few spots of bother, including the fourth. Sitting pretty in the middle of the fairway, McIlroy sent his wedge over the green. His chip was decent, but he missed the knee knocker and dropped a shot. But he quickly erased that mistake, finding a birdie at the par-3 fifth, then overpowering the sixth for another. He made the turn in 3-under and added to his tally with birdies at Nos. 11 and 13, the latter of which tied him for the lead. The bogey on the 17th was his lone movement from there.

He wasn’t alone in making an early run. Michael Kim was 5-under through seven holes without hitting a fairway before fading a bit. Chris Kirk was 7-under with one hole to play before making double bogey at 18. Justin Rose shot 65 after nearly missing the cut.

McIlroy charged by playing the type of golf he expected to be playing this week. Now he’s back where he expected to be entering the final round: in contention.