Honda Classic 2014: Tee times, pairings for Saturday's round

The Honda Classic heads to the weekend and a familiar face will play in the final group on Saturday.

What a difference a year makes.

Rory McIlroy spent Saturday of the 2013 Honda Classic receiving criticism for walking off the course after 27 holes. He was struggling and likely bound for a round in the mid-to-upper 80s before he walked off the course and straight to his car. His initially said he was not in a good mental place, according to USA Today, before later citing wisdom tooth pain.

Now, a year later, McIlroy opens Saturday of the Honda Classic in the lead. He sits at 11-under, following opening rounds of 63 and 66. That is good for a one-stroke lead over Brendon de Jonge. McIlroy and de Jonge play in the final pairing on Saturday, scheduled to tee off at 1:35 p.m. ET. McIlroy's game has come a long way in the 12 months since he walked off the course. He's playing much better golf and appears more settled with his Nike equipment. He talked about the drastic change on Friday.

"It's a different end of the spectrum," McIlroy said, via ESPN. "I wasn't quite comfortable with my golf swing. I was still tinkering with equipment. I just wasn't feeling in control of what I needed to be in control of."

While he's off to a good start, McIlroy is still in search of his first PGA Tour win since 2012. Only eight players will begin the third round within five strokes of the lead and McIlroy will have an opportunity to put some distance between himself and the rest of the field. Another round in the low-to-mid 60s may do just that.

At 8-under, Russell Henley sits in third place. He plays in the second-to-last group, joined by Lee Westwood who is 7-under. Russell Knox is tied for fourth place with Westwood at 7-under. He'll play with Jamie Donaldson on Saturday. Donaldson is one of three players tied for sixth place at 6-under.

Tiger Woods begins the third round 11 strokes off the lead. He made the cut by a stroke, and will go off in the second group of the day. Like Woods, Sergio Garcia is also even par. He and Woods came close to forming an interesting third-round pairing, but Garcia will instead tee off one group after Woods, playing with Vijay Singh.

Here is a complete look at the third-round tee sheet.