Sports

McIlroy tied for lead before 3rd-round halted, Tiger falters

TEE TIME! Rory McIlroy hits his tee shot on the first hole during yesterday’s rain-shortened third round of the PGA Championship. McIlroy (inset) shares the lead with Vijay Singh. (Getty Images; EPA)

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — The only way to keep Rory McIlroy from burning up the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island yesterday was to douse it with water. That’s exactly what Mother Nature did as a deluge from the heavens interrupted the third round of play at the PGA Championship yesterday just a McIlroy seemed headed for a brilliant round.

Play was suspended just after McIlroy had posted a bogey on the par-4 ninth hole, the first bogey of a round that was preceded by five birdies over the first eight holes. It vaulted him from 2-under par to the lead at 7-under before the bogey dropped him into a share of the lead with Vijay Singh at 6-under.

That’s where they will resume the third round today with hopes of finishing the fourth and final round by sundown.

“The way I’m looking at it, I’m going into the final day of the final major of the season tied for the lead,” McIlroy said. “I can’t ask for much more. I don’t care if it’s going to be 27 holes, 18 holes, 36 holes; I’m just happy to be going in there in a good position.”

The stoppage of play was a blessing for Woods, who was tumbling down the leaderboard. Three bogeys over a four-hole stretch had dropped him to 1-under after eight holes. Singh, meanwhile, was 2-under after seven holes giving him a share of the lead with McIlroy. At 49, Singh would be the oldest player to win a major championship.

Also making a move was Adam Scott, who played the front nine in 32, closing with consecutive birdies at the seventh, eighth, and ninth, where he rolled in a 40-foot bomb. He’s one shot back at 5-under.

McIlroy, the 2011 U.S. Open champion, began his round two shots behind second-round leaders Singh, Carl Pattersson, and Woods, who were at 4-under. But he caught them before they teed off with back-to-back birdies at the par-4 first and the par-5 fifth. He added another birdie at the par-3 fifth and used precise approach shots at the par-5 seventh and par-3 eighth to convert two more short birdies to go 7-under.

McIlroy even managed to make par at the par-4 third hole after taking an unplayable lie when he tee shot got stuck in a tree.

“It was a great start, the start that I was looking to get off to,” McIlroy said. “I saw that a few guys early in the day got off to good starts and I wanted to try to do that, too. To be 4-‑under through nine is great position to be in, and you know, the conditions out there were obviously a lot better than they were [Friday]. Some of the pin positions were a bit easier.”

The third round will resume at 7:30 a.m. , setting up for a long day today with players using the rest of third round to position themselves for what could be a shoot-out of a final round where players will be go off in threesomes. Twenty players are within six shots of the lead.

“There’s still a lot of guys with a chance to win,” McIlroy said. “With 27 holes left, you’ve still got a long way to go. I’ve put myself in a nice position. That’s all I really wanted to do, just put myself into position and I’ve been able to do that.”

george.willis@nypost.com