Rory McIlroy moved into the co-pilots seat on day three of the Turkish Airlines Open at Belek.

The four-time Major winner admitted he needed to dig deep to register a third consecutive 67 and get within one shot of the lead heading into the final round of the Turkish Airlines Open.

The Race to Dubai leader was level par for his round when he dropped a shot on the tenth but he then came to life, picking up four strokes in his next four holes with the help of a brilliant eagle on the 13th.

The four-time Major winner then picked up another birdie on the last to get within a shot of Victor Dubuisson and Jaco Van Zyl and revealed that Saturday’s effort was the most satisfying round of the week so far.

Rory McIlroy moves to within a stroke of a fourth victory this season.

“I needed to play well coming in here for this 67,” he said. “I got off to a bit of a slow start, I don’t know why, I just felt very lethargic out there today, I couldn’t really get any energy.

“To finish the way I did was very pleasing and I’d say this was the best of them just because I didn’t get off to a great start and I needed to dig in deep and finish the round off well, which I did.

“The bogey on ten was good to turn frustration into motivation and to play well those next few holes. Definitely the eagle on 13 was the spark that I needed to get myself up the leaderboard.

“I feel if I play the same way and execute a little bit better, there’s definitely a lower score out there for me. The three 67s that I’ve shot this week, I feel like I’ve played very much within myself.

So if I can get something going and get some momentum out there tomorrow, no reason why I can’t go lower than that – Rory McIlroy

While McIlroy made a birdie on the last, Kiradech Aphibarnrat dropped his only shot of the day to drop into a share of second at 15 under with the Northern Irishman.

The Thai is searching for his third title of the season after wins at the Shenzhen International and Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play and inisists he will not change his game plan with the World Number Three in contention.