Rory McIlroy said he was “very pleased” after what he felt was a “good day’s work” and one that lifted him into the top 10 at the halfway mark of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
A disappointing finish to round one in which he dropped three shots over the final six holes left the 2018 champion tied for 33rd, but with the golf course playing firm and a stiffish breeze to contend with, McIlroy’s earlier tee time on Friday meant he’d have the better of the scoring conditions after playing through the toughest of it on Thursday.
Even still, genuine birdie chances on the front nine were few and far between for the world number two. He got his first red figure on the scorecard on the par-5 fourth, two-putting from just inside 30 feet after a towering approach, but that tap-in birdie putt was the only one he faced from inside 10 feet on the way out, and he watched 12- and 14-footers on six and seven slide by.
He did make an 11-footer on eight, but it was for bogey after he got too aggressive with his approach shot from the thick rough and found the hazard short of the green. Getting up-and-down from 58 yards when he was staring double in the face meant the 11-footer would’ve felt more like a birdie putt, and it was the only blemish on his card for the day.
An extremely aggressive line off the tee on the 10th paid dividends as he ended up in perfect position just 37 yards short of the pin, and he made another 11-footer to get the dropped shot back.
Two more impressive blows found the dancefloor on the par-5 12th and he threaded the needle on 13 – both holes resulted in birdie – and he added another on the 16th and by doing so, ensured that he’d birdied all eight par-5 holes that he faced over the first 36 holes.
That took him to four-under overall and left him sharing ninth place.
“Yeah, very pleased,” he said. “One bogey. Hit it in the water on 8. But made a good putt for bogey there. I really felt like that kept any momentum that I had for the round going. I played the last 10 holes really, really well. Overall real really pleased. Played a very sort of controlled, patient round of golf, which you need to do around here. Yeah, good day’s work.”
With the course expected to firm up even more over the following two days, he believes that staying patient will be the key if he’s to claw his way into final-round contention with Daniel Berger enjoying a healthy lead at present.
“If we don’t get any rain the next couple days, which it looks like we won’t, it’s going to be really difficult,” he explained. “It’s difficult even if you hit the ball in the fairway, with this little bit of breeze, with the firm greens, I mean, it’s hard to get the ball close. You’re hitting good iron shots to 25, 30 feet all the time, and then you’re not going to make a lot of those. So really have to make the bulk of your score on the par-5s and just stay really patient for the rest of the way.”
Berger, who shot an incredible 63 in round one, continued to enjoy a hot hand as he matched McIlroy’s 68 to add to the three-stroke advantage he’d enjoyed overnight.
After 36 holes, the Floridian ranks second in approach play, third in putting and sixth off the tee, which suggests that he’s in control of all facets of his game and that’s further evidenced by the five-shot lead he’s built at the halfway mark.
Akshay Bhatia lies solo second at -8, with Ludvig Åberg, Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa tied for third at -7.
Shane Lowry, battling the cutline all day, found himself in the middle of the 18th fairway needing a par to ensure he’d be there on the weekend. It had been a rollercoaster back nine for Lowry, having followed a double bogey on 11 with an eagle on 12, then making back-to-back bogeys on 14 and 15 before birdieing 16 to get his head back above water.
His approach to the last was on an aggressive line, and had it been a half-yard or so longer, would’ve likely given him a good look at birdie, but instead, it landed on the upslope and bounced back into the hazard, nestling into the rocks just above the water.
Knowing he needed to par, he played the shot from the rocks, and managed to somehow squeeze the ball onto the green but he couldn’t hole the 37-footer that was left and missed the cut by one.
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