Rory McIlroy happy after ‘solid day’ at Memorial Tournament
Rory McIlroy hits from the ninth fairway during the second round of the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio. Picture: Darron Cummings/AP
Rory McIlroy has a great rapport with Memorial tournament host Jack Nicklaus, whom he sees all the time at the Bear’s Club in South Florida. They have lunch, and talk golf and life.
As for the bond between world No. 8 McIlroy and Muirfield Village, host of this week’s tournament, well… “Muirfield and I have had a bit of a complicated relationship,” McIlroy told pgatour.com this week, before opening with scores of 70-69 to reach 5 under par, two behind clubhouse leader Denny McCarthy.
“It seemed to fit me quite well earlier in my career and then the last few years, I've sort of maybe struggled with the strategy of how to play it.”
“It just seems like the length advantage has sort of been nullified here over the last few years,” he continued. “It's just finding a different way to play the golf course. A lot more 3-woods. I actually went to one of my old 3-woods this week that's a lower lofted. It's sort of like a 2-wood in a way which I think will be good to utilise this week.”
McIlroy hit a 269-yard fairway finder at the par-5 fifth hole, then fired a 271-yard 3-wood to within roughly six feet of the pin. He made the putt for eagle to reach six under par, only to hit his tee shot in the bunker and bogey the par-3 eighth, his second-to-last hole of the day.
“Yeah, another solid day's play,” McIlroy said. “Couple of silly bogeys. Bogeyed the 11th par-5 and the 14th for the second day in a row. But I guess it sort of happens around here. It's getting tricky and you're going to make bogeys regardless of where they come.
“Overall, two solid rounds of golf,” he continued, “right in contention going into the weekend, depending what guys do this afternoon. Yeah, happy with how everything is sort of going.”
Shane Lowry hit 11 of 18 greens in regulation during his second round of level-par 72 at the Memorial Tournament, finishing at 3 under for the tournament.
At the US Women's Open, Leona Maguire had a second successive 70 to sit at two under par, seven shots behind clubhouse leader Mina Harigae of the US.
Maguire, who studied at Duke University, about an hour away from Pine Needles, in North Carolina, had an up and down round, with six birdies on the card but her scoring was dented by three bogeys and a double-bogey on the par4 14th. Afterwards, the Cavan woman tweeted: “On to the weekend @uswomensopen. Enjoying playing in NC again”.
Stephanie Meadow is set to miss the projected cut of three over, a round of 74 leaving her one shot outside the mark on four over.
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