ATLANTA -- Give Rory McIlroy credit for having a good sense of humor.
The four-time major winner is the only European Ryder Cup team member in the Tour Championship field and spent a good part of the first two days struggling to find his form.
That changed with a 66 on Saturday that got him into a share of third place, giving him a shot not just at the Tour Championship, but the FedEx Cup title as well.
Inevitably, next week's Ryder Cup came up, and McIlroy was asked about the comments of U.S. captain Davis Love III, who in a radio interview this week said the U.S. might have assembled the best team ever.
"Definitely assembled the best task force ever, that's for sure,'' McIlory quipped, getting plenty of laughs as he referenced the task force that the U.S. set up in the aftermath of another Ryder Cup loss two years ago.
"Look, it's a great team,'' McIlroy said. "They have a lot of very talented players in there. They're obviously quite confident. So you know what, it's up to us to go there and try to upset the odds.''
McIlroy knows nothing else as it relates to the Ryder Cup. He's played on three European teams starting in 2010, and been on the winning side each time. He has a 6-4-4 record and has never lost in singles.
He hasn't had quite the same luck as it relates to the FedEx Cup. Despite coming to East Lake with excellent chances in 2012 and 2014 -- the latter year being when he won consecutive major titles as well as a World Golf Championship event.
Both times he was overtaken for the FedEx Cup because he didn't win the Tour Championship.
Now he can win the Tour Championship -- and still not win the FedEx Cup.
McIlroy, who won the Deutsche Bank Championship three weeks ago, came into the final PGA Tour event of the season sixth in the points standings. That means he needs to win on Sunday and have Dustin Johnson finish in a tie for second or worse.
"So I need to play well and need one of the others guys to tie him and see what happens,'' McIlroy said.
The Northern Irishman played well Saturday, making four birdies and no bogeys to climb the leaderboard. He is 2 shots back of Johnson and Kevin Chappell, in a third-place tie with Ryan Moore.
"It gets me closer to what I need to do,'' he said. "I need to go out and play a very similar, if not better, round of golf tomorrow to have a chance. First and foremost, I just need to try and win this golf tournament, and whatever happens after that happens.
"It would just be great to try and win the Tour Championship, and if the chips fall my way, then so be it.''