Resilient McIlroy in contention heading into final round of Open de France

Rory McIlory can thank a solid back-9 effort on Saturday that he is still in contention at the Open de France.

The 27-year-old - who began the day in a five-way tie for the lead - nearly fell out of the hunt after a disastrous first round saw him fall eight shots back of the lead after nine holes.

"I just could not get anything going on the front nine and with the way I'm feeling with my game, if it's good it's very good but if it's bad it's hard to get out of it," McIlroy said, according to PA Sport.

McIlroy however, shrugged it off and stormed back in the second half. He would birdie five of the final nine holes leaving him at six under and just two shots off leader Tongchai Jaidee, heading into the final round on Sunday.

For McIlroy, the shaky start to the round has been an un-welcomed recurrence, but unlike in tournaments past, McIlroy was thrilled he was able to put it behind him.

"It shows the fragile state of my game at the moment but to come back the way I did was really pleasing," said McIlroy. "It was more resilience than anything. I've hit enough good shots this week to know it's possible and I just needed to find a spark and get something going.

"I knew if I could hit a few fairways and greens the last few holes were not playing quite as difficult as usual due to the wind and the birdie on 11 was big."

McIlroy will be in the final pairing Sunday where he will look to capture his second win of the season.