Majestic McIlroy coming up with the answers
On Thursday at Valhalla as he got his challenge for a third victory in a row underway in the US PGA Championship, the Open champion’s serene progress of the last few weeks was momentarily halted by a mid-round wobble as McIlroy went double-bogey-bogey. When once the shoulders might have dropped and the confidence drained, the Irishman reeled off four birdies in a row and then added a fifth for good measure at the last to sign for an opening 66, one off the lead shared by Lee Westwood, Kevin Chappell and Ryan Palmer
Yesterday it was the conditions that needed careful management as heavy rain fell on the second round’s early starters. McIlroy will have welcomed the effects that had on the course, making the already long 7458-yard Jack Nicklaus-designed track play even longer as tee shots tend not to run on once they’ve landed and therefore favouring the longer, more accurate hitters of which the three-time major winner is one.
Add that to the more receptive greens that benefit great iron players, such as McIlroy, and you have the potential for the dismantling of a course the way he did at Congressional in 2011 en route to the US Open title.
Actually playing in the rain, rather than on a softer course, however, does present difficulties for even the most talented of golfers and McIlroy passed the latest test of his gifts with a second-round, four-under-par 67 to back up that opening 66 and move him to nine under par, a mark that was last night still good enough for the lead as the halfway point in the year’s final major drew ever nearer.
Just two bogeys this time around Valhalla, four birdies and an eagle three at the par-five 18th, McIlroy’s ninth hole of the day, gave the 25-year-old a two-shot clubhouse lead over American Palmer, who carded a one-under 70, and took McIlroy to 41 under par for his last 10 competitive rounds stretching back to day one of the Open Championship.
“Another very solid day’s work,” McIlroy said. “Conditions were obviously a little tougher than they were yesterday and especially on our front nine which is the back nine, you needed to stay really patient, because the rain was coming down pretty heavily at times.
“It was just about managing your game and putting the ball in the fairway and trying to put it somewhere on the green and I was able to make a few birdies on the back nine and to finish off with that eagle on the last was nice.
“Pretty scrappy, to be honest, around the start of the front nine. But a couple of key up and downs which were pretty important, and then to birdie two of the last three, that feels good, and gives me, right now, a little bit of a cushion, but depends on what the guys do this afternoon. Really happy with the day’s work and another great chance to win a major championship going into the weekend.”
As hard as they tried, the only afternoon guy to catch the eye in pursuit of McIlroy was Australian Jason Day, who was putting aside his recent medical problems and making a surge up the leaderboard. Day had suffered for most of this year with a thumb injury and then withdrew from last week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational early in his third round complaining of dizziness.
His play last night was perfectly clear-headed as he reached the ninth hole of his round five under for the day thanks to three birdies and an eagle at the par-five seventh. That moved the Aussie to seven under, two behind McIlroy as Jim Furyk closed the gap to a shot with a birdie at the same hole to get to eight under.
Whether McIlroy maintained his lead or not heading into the third round, Martin Kaymer has seen enough of his play over the first two rounds to believe the Irishman will be the player to beat on Sunday evening.
“When he hits the driver that straight and that long, and the short game is incredible, it’s very difficult to beat him,” US Open champion Kaymer said of his playing partner of the last two days. “His iron shots, they are very solid. He doesn’t miss many golf shots.
“So you just have to respect it a lot, how good he plays. There’s nothing wrong with his game; putting, chipping, bunker, whatever it is, and he hits it 20, 25 yards longer than anyone else. He’s definitely the best player in the world.
“There’s not much going wrong with his game. Even when he misses the green, he still saves par, and all of a sudden a couple of eagles. It’s impressive the way he plays golf now.”
There was only one eagle yesterday but exemplified Kaymer’s praise of his rival’s play, the German conqueror of Pinehurst two months ago falling to a 74 to slip to two over and potentially out of the tournament with the cut-line hovering at one over midway through the second round.
Yet as Kaymer struggled, McIlroy was playing majestically. His tee shot at the 18th was a 311-yard drive that found the fairway, his 213-yard iron shot approach finding the green and leaving a 31ft eagle putt that was dispatched with aplomb.
It all looks very easy indeed.
Less so for Tiger Woods, the 14-time major winner looking to be heading for the exit at Valhalla, where 14 years ago he had won this championship for his third major of that season. Woods was four over for his round and seven over for the tournament as he turned for home. Playing partner Padraig Harrington’s bid to make the cut had got off to the bets of starts with a birdie at the first to move him to one over but back-to-back birdies at the par-four fifth and sixth undid the momentum and with nine holes to play he needed to return to birdie mode to make the weekend.
Graeme McDowell, who like Harrington started from two over, was moving in the right direction, level par for the tournament and two under for the round after eight holes, but Darren Clarke was on his way home, his impressive 69 failing to compensate for a first-round, eight-over 79.
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