Rory McIlroy got his putting sorted out and got himself back up front on day three of the Wells Fargo Championship.

McIlroy had just 25 putts in a seven under par 65 in glorious morning scoring conditions to move to six under par in the $US 6.9m event being played at the Quail Hollow Golf Club in suburban Charlotte.

It is McIlroy’s second lowest score in 17 rounds of the course where he shot a final round 62 to win on debut in 2010.

“I putted much better today and I did some work on the putting green last night after I played, and it worked well for me again today,” he said.

Rory McIlroy shoots 65 day 3 2014 Wells Fargo Championship. (Photo – www.wellsfargochampionship.com)

“I think I figured out what I needed to do out there, and it was a really solid round of golf and it gets me back into the tournament.

“I also didn’t hit too many loose shots out there today as I did yesterday.  I had a couple that put me in trouble yesterday and it was much better today.  Anytime that I give myself a chance for birdie, the putt either went or looked like it was going in.”

McIlroy’s round was a mix of eight birdies and just the one bogey at the ninth.

The highlight of his day was holing a 27-footer for birdie at the par four, fourth hole and the No. 1 index hole on the Quail Hollow scorecard.

And after making the halfway cut at one over par as he had done in 2010, McIlroy kept the memories of four years alive as he now looks to replicate his final round 62 from 2014 in tomorrow’s final round and also the occasion of his 25th birthday.

“I remember four years I bogeyed the 18th on the Saturday to shoot a 66, so I had that putt on 18 to go one better so that’s why I gave it a fist pump,” he said.

“It depends on where the guys are at the end of the day. If I’m still within four or five shots going into Sunday, I  think I’ll have a chance. We’ll see what happens.

“But Billy Mayfair was leading four years ago and he shot even par on Saturday, and I went from one over to five under and there was a lead of nine under, so there was quite a few guys between myself and the lead.”