Rory McIlroy felt that the second round was in danger of getting away from him at the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut, but despite a 17th hole bogey, he’s just four off the lead.
The world number two was back in his groove on day one and held a share of third place after 18 holes, but as one of the later starters on day two, whipping winds and a firm golf course meant that remaining in touch rather than pulling away would be the likely goal.
Bogeys on three of his first four holes made that a tough prospect, and though he managed to birdie the par-5 sixth, another dropped shot on seven saw him reach the turn at +3 for the day and -3 overall.
Facing into the back nine, a slight reduction in wind strength presented more opportunities and birdies on 10, 13 and 15 – two par-4s with a par-5 in between – saw him claw his way back to level-par for the day, before a bogey on 17 dropped him back to -5 overall.
It was a bogey that could’ve been worse, however, as his approach shot skipped through the hazard short of the green and onto dry land, albeit a distance from the hole and he failed to get up and down.
“The ball on 17, I was on the downslope in the bunker and I was afraid of hitting it fat and just hitting it straight into the water in front of me,” he explained after the round. “I caught it a little skinny, and thankfully it skipped through, and I still made a bogey, but it probably saved me a shot by skipping out.
“It was a little fortunate, but it was a — 17, those holes — even 15 was playing sort of tricky, but 17 from that high tee box, it was a tough tee shot. You saw mine — I felt like the wind didn’t hit mine, goes in the left trap. Wind gets Keegan’s too much, goes in the water, and the wind was so gusty that sometimes the wind got the ball and sometimes it didn’t.”
Despite the late dropped shot, he was proud of the way he battled through the tough conditions when, after a poor start, it would’ve been very easy to have the round and the tournament slip away.
“I felt like I battled back pretty well,” he said. “Got off to a rough start, 3-over through 4, 3-over through 7. To get it back somewhat close to even par for the day was good.
“Yeah, I battled well. I hit some good shots and held it together when it could have got away from me early in the round.
“I got fortunate with my putt on 5 for par. It felt like that was going to miss left, and it ended up going in.
“Then I knew there was some gettable holes. Two par-5s, a couple of short par-4s. I sort of tried to stay as patient as possible. When I dropped back to 3, I saw Scottie had got to 11. I was like, oh, felt like a long way to sort of climb my way back up. But then I made a birdie to get to 4 and I saw Scottie dropped back to 9 and I was like, oh, I don’t feel like I’m too far away again.
“The conditions today definitely bunched the entire field together, and should make for an exciting weekend.”
Shane Lowry’s frustrations continued as he followed his opening 72 with a three-over 73 to sit tied for 63rd at the halfway point but with no 36-hole cut, he’ll get two more rounds to play his way back into form.
Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood are in a three-way tie for first at -9. The Englishman made two eagles in the space of three holes and followed with a birdie on the next to thrust his way into the mix.
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