McIlroy on the move

RORY MCILROY was making is move up the US PGA hampionship leaderboard last night as dense fog further delayed play at Whistling Straits.

With the second round starting four hours and 10 minutes behind schedule yesterday as Thursday’s late starters, including McIlroy, were still completing their opening rounds, American Matt Kuchar extended his one-shot first-round lead to two-strokes at eight under par over Korean teenager Seung-yul Noh.

A further shot behind was McIlroy, in a tie for third at five under with three to play, Americans Bryce Molder and Jason Dufner having taken the halfway clubhouse lead on the same mark following rounds of 67 and 66 respectively.

On Thursday, McIlroy had recovered from a rocky start that saw him three over after four holes to reach one under after 13 holes before darkness brought an end to the fog-delayed day’s play.

Two birdies and a double bogey, at the long par-four 15th, punctuated his card yesterday morning when play resumed this morning following a further fog delay, McIlroy recording an opening one-under 71 that left him feeling upbeat about his prospects for the rest of the week.

“I think with how many birdies I made out there the first round, if I can limit the mistakes I made and maybe turn those doubles into bogeys if I come across bad spots then feel there is a good round out there,” McIlroy said.

Starting the day with a birdie at the 14th was a good omen and continued a good momentum into his second round.

“It was fine, it is going to be a long day for all of us and I just want to get out there and make some birdies.”

And so he did, at least after a measured start from the 10th tee that returned three pars in a row, including a missed birdie putt from short range on 11, before eventually adding a birdie at the 13th.

Another followed immediately at the 14th, his second on that hole in the space of a few hours, courtesy of a 20-foot birdie putt, and there yet another chance at the par-three 17th.

McIlroy avoided the easy option of sending his tee shot to safety down the right side of the green and away from the lakeside rocks to the left that had claimed Padraig Harrington’s ball, some 40 feet below the hole. Instead the 21-year-old sent his tee shot straight down the middle of the green to leave him with a 20-foot birdie putt that just rolled past the hole.

McIlroy went out in 34, making the turn at two under for his round, three under for the tournament and keeping in touch with outright leader Kuchar, who had moved to eight under after 13 holes with a third birdie in a row.

The Irishman closed the gap to four shots with a birdie at the par-four first and moved into the business end of the tournament with another birdie, this time at the par-four sixth.

Meanwhile, both Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell were going in the opposite direction. Lowry, making his US major championship debut after a creditable majors bow at St Andrews, had battled to an opening one-under-par 71 that saw him card four bogeys and five birdies. The last birdie came at his closing hole, the ninth to erase the memory of a three-bogey inward nine and the Offaly man had an equally erratic start to his second round, beginning with three bogeys in his opening five holes to slip to two over and following those with an eagle two at the 355-yard sixth.

Lowry was two over for the tournament with seven holes to play.

McDowell had started the day at two over par after 11 holes of his first round, playing in the marquee group of 2010 major winners with Phil Mickelson and Louis Oosthuizen. The US Open champ restarted with a birdie at the 13th before his round was undone by three bogeys over the last five holes for a four-over 76.

Starting from the 10th tee, McDowell got off to a promising start with a much-needed birdie at the par-five 11th but there were setbacks shortly after as he bogeyed the tricky par-four 15th after getting out of trouble off the tee only to miss a short par putt.

Another bogey followed at par-five 16 as McDowell’s tee shot hopped off the fairway into rough and his third shot landed in a deep greenside pot bunker, the sand shot plopping up and plugging into rough on the way to a six. To his credit McDowell steadied the ship with six pars but as he neared the clubhouse the major winner was in need of birdies to ensure an extended stay into the third round.

Darren Clarke managed to turn round his disappointing finish to round one. The Dungannon golfer had began the day in contention at three under only to finish with a two-over 74 but he was back to one under with three holes of his second round remaining, Padraig Harrington having not yet started his day’s work and heading for a Saturday completion.