Rory McIlroy is hoping to feed off the crowds and his comfort level at Quail Hollow and win his third Wells Fargo Championship and his first title for 18 months.

The world No 15 showed he’s close to his best again when he carded a three-under 68 to go into the final round tied for second with Gary Woodland on seven-under-par, just two strokes behind Kevin Mitchell.

Scores

Mitchell shot a bogey-free, five-under 66 but McIlroy is looking forward to seeing how his game stands up to the challenge after he roared to the turn in five-under 31 and then hung on well on the back nine, despite hitting just two fairways.

He double-bogeyed the 12th after he elected to test himself by hitting the driver when he knew a three-wood was the play and got a shot back at the par-five 15th before parring his way home.

Buoyed by the crowds and surprised he’s contending already after just a month with Pete Cowen, he feels ready to step up and win again.

“I’ve missed it,” he said of the crowd atmosphere. “I didn't think I would miss it as much as I did, but I really have. So to be in contention, to have the fans back, I really enjoyed it out there today and I'm excited about tomorrow.”

He made over 80 feet of putts on the front nine as he birdied the third (25ft), fourth (17ft), seventh (7ft) and eighth (22ft) to take the lead and while he played the back nine in one over, he’s upbeat about his game and the work he’s been doing with Pete Cowen. 

“Look, I'm excited to be in the position I'm in,” he said. “I wasn't really expecting to be in this position coming into this week. I felt like I was still working on my game and I thought progress this week was being here today, which I am. Then I play well again today. So I just have to go out and try to play well again tomorrow and see where that leaves me.”

Ranked 74th for fairways hit and 13th for strokes gained off the tee, he was unafraid to test himself at the 12th by pulling out the driver.

“Again, this is sort of where I probably knew I should have hit 3-wood on 12, but I wanted to hit driver to challenge myself, I wanted to hit the tougher shot just to see where I was with my swing and where my game was,” he said. 

“I didn't quite pull it off and it sort of bit me, but I was fully committed to what I was doing because that was  that was my intention. My intention was to try to pull off a shot that I was probably a little uncomfortable with and it didn't quite work, but those are the things that you have to do out there at times. 

“My game plan might be a little different tomorrow being in the final group or final round and being in contention to win a golf tournament. Yeah, I mean, if I could take one back today, it was on the 12th tee because I felt I didn't play the right  not that I didn't play the right shot, I just didn't hit the right club in the end, but I wanted to challenge myself and it just didn't work out.”

It was a bad day at the office for Seamus Power and Shane Lowry as they slipped back. Both shot four-over 75s, leaving Power tied 68th on five-over and Lowry a shot further back in 71st.

Power missed nine greens while Lowry was off-colour in most departments and had an average day on and around the greens, scrambling for par just twice as he took 32 putts.

On the PGA Tour Champions, Darren Clarke’s hopes of winning his first senior Major faded when he shot a one-under 71 to go into the final round of the Regions Tradition tied for sixth on eight-under, six strokes behind leader Steve Stricker. Scores

The US Ryder Cup captain shot a seven-under 65 at Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama to lead by one stroke from Alex Cejka (66) and by two from Robert Karlsson (64) and Dicky Pride (67) on 14-under.