There was a little Dr Jekyll and a lot of Mr Hyde on Rory McIlroy’s back nine on day two of the 126th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills and his hopes of landing a second USGA showpiece took a knock.
The world number two’s bogey-bogey finish took a lot of the gloss off what was an otherwise impressive opening round in what proved to be the tougher early wave on day one, and by the time he made his way to the first tee on Friday, the five-stroke deficit he faced overnight had risen to six thanks to Wyndham Clark’s lengthy birdie putt on the ninth finding just enough of the right side of the cup to drop.
McIlroy was well on his way to reeling him in when he birdied the par-5 fifth and par-4 eighth holes, and, having already holed from 15 feet on the previous green, faced a left-to-right six-footer for birdie number three on the ninth.
A combination of a slight overread and a little too much pace saw the putt slide by, but a low-flighted iron off the tee gave him the chance to make amends with just a short flick remaining to the 10th.
McIlroy’s wedge-game improvement has been one of the most impressive aspects of his play over the past few seasons, but he caught this one a little thin and sent it careening over the back of the green which left him virtually no chance of getting up and down, then he proceeded to miss long again on each of the next two greens with the same result, and just over 40 minutes after having a putt to make it to -4 for the tournament, he was back at level-par.
He was back to his best with a wedge on 13 and had the shortest of tap-ins to get back in red figures, then drained a 42-foot monster putt on the next, but the good doctor disappeared again on 15 as he bladed a chip from over the green that ran into the bunker leaving him short sided and that resulted in a double bogey to fall back to level-par again.
He needed to rely on short-game genius to save par on 16 and 17, then needed a good two-putt from the back of the 18th to close out with a one-over 71 that leaves him on level-par, tied for 10th and seven behind the runaway leader.
“The back nine was a bit of a battle,” he said afterwards. “Started with three bogeys in a row to start the back. Couldn’t stop getting myself to hit it over the back of the green those three holes and then played pretty good from there on in.
“That one mistake on 15, bad chip shot from over the back. But you know, the wind felt like it was laying down first the first few holes. Then it certainly got back up again, sort of around when we made the turn.
“I thought we were going to get away with it and get some easier conditions, but the back nine was very, very tough. So, you know, I think anyone on this side will feel like they got the rough end of the draw, but still feel like I’m in the tournament and in with a decent chance.”
He’s happy with the way he’s been playing overall, and believes that if he can eradicate the errors he can still force his way into the mix on Sunday.
“It seems tough,” he said. “I mean, you know, it’s not as if you can go and chase on this golf course. You just got to play super solid and hit fairways and hit greens and take your chances when they present themselves.
“But, you know, I made two bogeys to finish yesterday. I made three bogeys in a row today and a double. You know, just try to limit the mistakes a little bit over the weekend, and feel like I’m playing well enough to pick off a few birdies here and there.”
Leave a comment