Brandel Chamblee has labelled one aspect of Rory McIlroy’s game during the third round of the Wells Fargo Championship ‘extraordinary’ with the Northern Irishman one shot back of the lead ahead of Sunday.
Rory McIlroy continues to close in on Xander Schauffele, with the pair playing together in the final group on Saturday, with Schauffele starting the day four clear of the field.
But McIlroy looks to have really found something in his game ahead of this month’s PGA Championship, with the 34-year-old shooting a bogey-free round for the second day running.
And a key reason for his success was the quality of his driving at Quail Hollow, with McIlroy averaging – yes, averaging – 341 yards off the tee on Saturday.
Rory McIlroy lauded after ‘extraordinary’ driving display at Quail Hollow
The four-time major champion was also extremely impressive around the greens, getting up and down on a number of occasions.
But speaking on Golf Channel, Brandel Chamblee suggested that McIlroy seems to have found another gear.
“Magicians aren’t supposed to tell you how they do the tricks, Rory’s been telling us how he does the tricks all week long, but there is nobody else in the field who can simulate the magic that we’ve seen from him,” he said.
“First things first, let’s take a look at some of these drives, because even for Rory McIlroy, this is extraordinary stuff. He averaged 341 today on the driving holes where they measure the distance. He hit 11 of 14 fairways.”
PGA Championship may have come at perfect time
McIlroy has plenty of happy memories around Quail Hollow, having won the event three times previously, so it is no surprise that he appears to be poised to go on and win on Sunday.
With that, it appears that he may never have a better chance to end his wait to win a major championship than at Valhalla this month.
He is driving the ball brilliantly and seemingly making fewer mistakes within his short game, and he is returning to the course where he did win his most recent major title.
If there was ever a time for McIlroy to get across the line, it may be next week.
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