LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Rory McIlroy played the kind of golf Saturday that typically would put him in control at a major championship. Staked to a one-shot lead in the PGA Championship, he made three birdies over his last four holes for a 4-under 67. All that did was allow him to stay in front -- barely. More rain in the morning allowed for a deluge of birdies during a third round so wild that six players had a share of the lead at some point. McIlroy could hear it. The cheers of so many birdies resounding across the back nine made him realize it was time to get it in gear. He rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 15. His approach from 172 yards landed with a splat next to the hole on the 16th for an easy birdie, and he took a one-shot lead over Bernd Wiesberger by getting up-and-down from a front bunker on the par-5 18th. He was at 13-under 200. McIlroy loves the view from the top -- he has won all three of his majors with the lead. "Its not the biggest lead Ive ever had," said McIlroy, who led by eight, three and six shots after 54 holes in his previous major wins. "But Im still in control of this golf tournament. Its a great place to be going into tomorrow." Sunday is shaping up as a thriller, typical of the final major of the year. McIlroy would have reason to feel like a driver in pole position who looks into his rearview mirror at the start of the race. Eight players were within four shots of the lead, a group that includes Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson. Wiesberger closed with three straight birdies -- the three putts were a combined 3 feet, 6 inches -- for a 65. Playing in only his sixth major championship, the 28-year-old Austrian now gets to play in the final group at a major with the No. 1 player in the world. "From now on, its just a bonus, really," Wiesberger said. Fowler, a runner-up in the last two majors and the first player since Tiger Woods to finish among the top five in all three of them, gets one last crack. He played bogey-free for a 67 and was two shots behind. Fowler will be playing in the penultimate group with Mickelson, the five-time major champion who turned his game around with strong finish. Right when he looked to be fading from contention, Lefty turned it on with a long birdie putt on the 14th hole, two more birdies, and then he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the final hole. He had a 67 and was three shots behind. "That birdie putt on 14 was really the one that got me going, because I needed to finish strong to get back in it," Mickelson said. Mickelson was at 10-under 203 with Jason Day, who played in the final group Saturday and had to settle for a 69. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Saskatchewan fired a 3-under 68 to get to 8-under par and within five strokes of the lead. He made six birdies and five pars over his last 11 holes of the third round. The PGA Championship does not bill itself as the toughest test in golf. It assembles the best field of the majors and lets them slug it out over four days. Add a super soft course from morning showers, and cheers rained down from every corner. The average score was 69.6, though it felt easier to former Masters champion Adam Scott, one of nine players with a 66 or better. "Doesnt get any easier," said Scott, who was six behind. "Seems like 4 or 5 under is about even par today." For all the birdies, two pars early in the round were important. Day hooked his tee shot so badly on the second hole that it cleared the stream and landed in a bog. It eventually was found in knee-high vegetation. Day had to remove his shoes, roll up his pants and wade across the stream to get there. He blasted across the fairway into the rough, hit wedge onto the green to 8 feet and made it. The tee was moved forward on the par-4 fourth hole, making it play 292 holes. Seven players made eagle. McIlroy was not one of them. He hooked his tee shot into the woods and had to take a penalty drop to get a clear look at the green. McIlroy made a 12-footer for par to stay in the lead, and he made birdie on the next hole. Back and forth it went all day. Fowler, Day, Wiesberger and even Ryan Palmer (69) and Jim Furyk took turns joining McIlroy atop the leaderboard. Through it all, Boy Wonder never fell back. "It wasnt as easy as I expected it to be out there today," McIlroy said. "They tucked a few pins away, and obviously playing with the lead, you maybe cant play with the freedom as if youre chasing. But really happy with how I finished. To shoot another 67 without really having some of my best stuff for the round was really pleasing." And thats what makes it hard on everyone else chasing him Sunday. McIlroy is coming off a wire-to-wire win at the British Open and rallied to win a World Golf Championship in his next start. He goes after a third straight victory from a familiar position -- in the lead. Unlike his other three majors, he has hardly any margin for error and a lot more players chasing him. Jalen Lecque Suns Jersey . The Extreme Heat Policy was enacted at Melbourne Park just before 2 p.m. Thursday, suspending all matches on outer courts until the early evening and requiring the closure of the retractable roofs at Rod Laver and Hisense arenas before play could continue on the show courts. Aron Baynes Suns Jersey .J. -- Pete Carroll said it was the suspension of linebacker Bruce Irvin last spring that finally got the attention of the rest of the Seattle Seahawks that they needed to be taking their commitment to the team more seriously. https://www.thesunslockerroom.com/Dario-Saric-City-Edition-Jersey/ . -- Creighton apparently has Villanovas number. Ryan Anderson Jersey . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. Charles Barkley Suns Jersey . The Bruins forward has been fined $5,000 by the National Hockey League for spearing Red Wings defenceman Danny DeKeyser in the groin.VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Patrick Farrell missed his first free throw, and was off on his second. With only 19 seconds left in the game, the pressure was on for Farrell to make the third. The Villanova fans stood and cheered, and his teammates were stoked, yelling from the bench at the sophomore forward that the final one would be good. Farrell practiced his motion, took a breath, released, and watched as the basketball bounced twice around the rim before it plopped through the net. The eighth-ranked Wildcats went wild, celebrating Farrells first point of the season like a game-winner, and not just the finishing touches of a 67-48 victory over Butler on Wednesday night. For a team that played about 30 minutes of basketball to forget, that moment of team bonding for the deepest of deep reserves was one to remember. "I love that," coach Jay Wright said. "Thats whats special about this team." The Wildcats (25-3, 13-2 Big East) survived one of their worst halves of the season to win for the ninth time in 10 games. They needed almost the first 10 minutes of the game to score 10 points, missed eight of their first nine 3-point attempts, and didnt have a player reach double digits in scoring until midway through the second half. "Youve got to find a way to grind against them," Wright said. "Ill take that." Darrun Hilliard and James Bell led them with only 11 points each and the Wildcats put up the kind of numbers that usually lead to a loss. Not against the lowly Bulldogs (12-16, 2-14). Butler was even worse, shooting only 26 per cent in the first half, and the Bulldogs lost their seventh straight game. The Wildcats had a small hot streak at the end of the first half, making 5 of 6 shots, to build enough of a cushion and slowly pull away. The Wildcats fell shy of their 79.9 points per game average and played for about 35 minutes looking nothing like the team that has become one of the best in the Big East. Each team took turns trading clunkers and clangers in the first 10 minutes, one reason the Wildcats only led 10-4. With 6 minutes left in the half, the Bulldogs and Wildcats combined for only 26 points. And no, Bo Ryan wasnt coaching either of the teams. The Pavilion had all the atmosphere of an art museum on a sleepy Sunday morning, making this one feel mmore like a bad NBA preseason game than the final on-campus home game of the season.dddddddddddd Wright did let senior reserves Nick McMahon and Tony Chennault start -- though McMahon played only 20 seconds before he was benched for Ryan Arcidiacono. McMahon couldnt have been worse than the rest of the offence. Villanova missed 12 of its first 15 shots, most from 3-point range. The Wildcats were determined to keep shooting 3s until they fell. Bell and Arcidiacono did hit two straight near the end of the first half for a 28-15 lead. Butlers Kellen Dunham buried the shot of the game with a high banker for 3 that cut it to 34-20 at halftime. He led Butler with 12 points. Hard to believe these teams needed overtime before Villanova pulled out the win in their first matchup. "We didnt have it tonight," coach Brandon Miller said. "When you keep getting the results you dont want, it weighs on you a little bit." Bell was the lone senior regular for the Wildcats and exchanged an emotional hug with Wright after he checked out for the final time. "It was tough," Bell said. "I dont see my mom that much. My dad works a lot, doesnt really get the chance to get down that much. That was probably the toughest part, seeing my mom crying. Other than that, it was time to play." Pick a stat in the first half and both teams probably wish the number could be wiped from the record book. Butler missed 8 of 10 3s; Nova missed 12 of 16. Butler had two starters who went scoreless in the half. The Wildcats shot 38 per cent from the field. But theres a reason the Wildcats have spent most of the season in the Top 25, and they showed why in the second half, going more than 25 minutes without a turnover during a 16-3 run that stretched the lead to 24 points. Butler scored six baskets in the first half, and didnt reach seven for a second-half total until there was 1:51 left. While the Wildcats are in the hunt for a top-three seed in the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs need a shocking conference tournament championship to have any shot at returning for some March Madness. "This is a really good group to coach," Wright said. "Its been a pleasure all year. But it cant let that prevent us from driving them and them driving themselves to get better." ' ' '