ORLANDO, Fla. -- That didn't take long.
From one off the pace to falling off the first page of the leaderboard, all in seemingly a matter of moments. From reaching the goal of contending prior to the Masters to needing an improbable rally to have a chance.
Welcome to golf life for Rory McIlroy, the top-ranked player in the world who is fully aware that every hole, every round, is judged with a scrutiny reserved for almost no one else, with apologies to Tiger Woods.
Such is the status McIlroy has achieved as he goes for a third straight major championship next month and the career Grand Slam at the Masters, having solidified himself as an overwhelming No. 1.
It's a great spot to be -- although perhaps not so much when things go as they did Saturday.
"Everything was going really well for 13 holes,'' McIlroy said of his third round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. "Got myself right into the tournament and then three bogeys in quick succession.''
And there it went. An excellent round to an ordinary one. A great chance to win a tournament to needing a great final round and plenty of help.
From 1 stroke back to 7 behind.
And it's not just anyone on top, but Sweden's Henrik Stenson, the 2013 FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai champion who is ranked third in the world and is likely every bit as much of a Masters favorite as McIlroy.
"If I could play the kind of round I played today for four days at Augusta, I definitely would be pleased and I would hope that I'll be up there, be one of the strong contenders,'' said Stenson, 38, who has four PGA Tour victories and another 11 worldwide. "Augusta is definitely in the back of my mind.
"I got a few things I'm kind of working on towards Augusta, but still we're here now and playing the final round tomorrow and I'm going to try my hardest to do a good job tomorrow and try and close out this golf tournament to win here. That would be a really nice achievement and a nice week for me since I'm [an] Orlando resident.''
Coming off consecutive fourth-place finishes at the WGC-Cadillac Championship and Valspar Championship, Stenson had never missed a cut at the Bay Hill Club and seems determined to win his first PGA Tour title since capturing the Tour Championship in 2013.
Stenson played the final five holes in 4 under par while McIlroy went 3 over for that same stretch, including a crippling bogey at the par-5 16th. Stenson eagled the same hole, one where birdie is expected, and after a 66 will take a 2-shot lead into the final round over Morgan Hoffmann. McIlroy shot 71.
One of McIlroy's goals this week was to get into contention and feel the heat of going for a title. Asked if that was attained, he quipped: "Not anymore.''
Perhaps it was for a moment, as McIlroy played the first 13 holes in 4 under par and made back-to-back birdies to get to 12 under for the tournament and just a shot behind then-leader Jason Kokrak. With a reachable par-5 coming up, McIlroy figured to at least be within a few shots of the leader.
"I guess if I can get off to a fast start and maybe if I can get like 4-under through six or 5-under through nine or something, maybe I will have a chance,'' he said. "But it would have been nicer to be a little closer to the lead going into tomorrow but I'm still there.''
The problem is he'll have a lot of players to climb over to get close to Stenson. McIlroy dropped into a tie for 12th. Hoffman -- the second-round leader - is 5 shots ahead of him, followed by Kokrak, Matt Jones, Ben Martin and Matt Every in a tie for third.
Sean O'Hair, who lost a playoff last week, is seventh, and four more players are tied for eighth.
Meanwhile, Stenson has some recent history to overcome. Over the past eight PGA Tour events, 10 leaders or co-leaders have failed to win, failed to even break par in the final round.
"Of course, a lot of things can happen in 18 holes,'' he said. "We've seen that. I don't think I should change anything. I've kept to my game plan for the first three days and it's worked out fine so far, so I'm not really going to look to make any changes.''