Poulter chases McIlroy in final round

Last Updated: 12.08.2012

Ian Poulter began his final round with five successive birdies to be only one behind Rory McIlroy in the USPGA Championship at Kiawah Island.

After a morning 74 left him a mountain to climb, Poulter climbed from joint 10th to second on his own at six under par as McIlroy resumed with a par four. Four years ago, Poulter finished runner-up to another Irishman - Padraig Harrington - in The Open at Birkdale.

That earned him a Ryder Cup wild card, whereas this time he was forcing his way into Jose Maria Olazabal's side for Chicago next month. But it was still McIlroy, last year's US Open champion, who was on course for his second major at the age of 23 years three months - four months younger than Tiger Woods was when he grabbed number two of 14 at the 1999 USPGA.

The action began at 7.45am and the completion of the third round certainly did not lack for drama. It even included Tiger Woods being attacked by a prickly pear cactus.

"It got in both legs - well, left shoe, right shoe and then in my right leg," he said of the incident right of the 15th fairway. "It itched like hell for about a hole and then it was gone."

At first Woods, recovering from a "horrific" front nine 40, was limping badly as he made his way down the hole, but he called for a towel from caddie Joe LaCava and carefully extracted the thorns.

McIlroy and Singh were joint leaders on the resumption and it was a see-saw battle until Singh dropped four shots in four holes and McIlroy birdied the 15th and 16th to go three clear.

He had missed putts of three and five feet before that, however, and before going off for an hour's nap - "I didn't get enough sleep last night" - he spoke about what lay ahead for him.

Reminded that third round leaders have not been faring too well lately including Scott at The Open last month, of course - he also brought up what happened at Augusta last year. McIlroy was four clear after 54 holes there and shot 80 before coming back two months later to win the US Open by eight.

"I learned a lot from The Masters and I think it will stand me in great stead. That's definitely something that I can think back to and draw on some of those memories and some of the feelings I had at Congressional. You realise that you might not feel the same or your anxiety level is a little bit higher. At least being in that position before I'll know what to do again."