McIlroy the merciless
Rory McIlroy has no intention of playing defensively this weekend. Credit: www.golfffile.ieNo mercy.
That was the stark message from Rory McIlroy to the rest of the field after his smashed multiple records en route to a second round 66 and a sensational, six-shot lead over YE Yang at the halfway stage of the US Open.
The Holywood star, 22, played even better than Tiger Woods in his pomp as he became the first player ever to reach 13 under par in America’s national Open.
Now he plans to push on and smash the field into submission with a weekend McAttack. And not even a double bogey six at the last that ended an incredible 35-hole bogey free run could sway his focus as he topped the leaderboard on 11 under par to set a new 36-hole low of 131.
Believing he’s learnt his lesson from Augusta, he won’t back off now, vowing: “I thought after Augusta that I needed to be a little more cocky and arrogant on the course and try and have a bit of an attitude.
“When I get myself in these positions, I have to really make sure that I don’t get ahead of myself and I don’t start playing defensively.
“I have to still play aggressively to the targets that I pick. And that’s really the main thing, even if you get four or five or six ahead of the field.
“You’re trying to get seven ahead, eight ahead, ten ahead, whatever. You’re just trying to keep going.”
McIlroy’s round was a thing of pure fantasy as split almost every fairway and peppered the flag with one searing iron shot after another to follow up his opening 65 with a 66 that included a 114-yard hole out with a wedge for eagle two at the eighth.
Not only did that shot draw applause from playing partner Phil Mickelson - 12 shots behind him after a 69 - it also saw him become the fastest player in history to reach double digits under par.
He’s missed just four greens in 36 holes, hit 20 of 28 fairways and avoided three-putting thanks to the subtle technique changes he’s made with short game guru Dave Stockton.
Not only has he changed his grip and his preshot routine on the greens, McIlroy is also standing more upright after deciding to try a longer putter.
After blowing a four-stroke lead in the final round of the Masters, he’s not getting ahead of himself and plans to stay aggressive.
But he was simply delighted with his play, beaming: “I don’t really know what to say. It’s been two very, very good days of golf.
“I’ve put myself in a great position going into the weekend. But I know more than probably anyone else what can happen. So I’ve got to stay really focused and try and finish this thing off.”
McIlroy celebrates his eagle at the eighth with caddie JP Fitzgerald.Three clear overnight, he was soon five ahead when he rolled home a 25 footer at the tough fourth to get to seven under par.
But he was only getting warmed up.
Playing partners Mickelson and Dustin Johnson were grinding for pars as McIlroy made fearsome Congressional Country Club look like a ho-hum, public course
After going 17 successive holes without missing a green, his magical run came to an end at the fifth when he came up short.
But he effortlessly two-putted from the apron for his par before moving further clear of the field with a birdie at the par-five sixth.
He missed just his third fairway of the week there but after laying up short, he fired a wedge over the flag and screwed his ball back to just four feet, holing for birdie to go two under for the round and five clear of the field on eight under.
An inch short of another birdie from 40 feet at the short seventh, McIlroy took his game up another gear with that eagle two at the 354-yard eighth.
He laid up off the tee but flew his 114-yard wedge over the flag and watched it pitch in the upslope at the back of the green trickle back down the slope and into the hole.
His wonder strike put him 10 under par - making him the fastest player to reach double digits under par in the 111-year history of the US Open.
Gil Morgan took 39 holes to reach 10 under at Pebble Beach in 1992 but McIlroy took only 26 holes to reach his milestone.
After two-putt pars at the ninth and 10th, McIlroy had yet to drop a shot all week and continued his streak at the 11th by holing a tricky 10 footer for par there after bunkering his second left of the green.
He missed from inside that distance for birdie at the 12th and parred the short 13th before making a mockery of one of the toughest holes on the course.
The uphill, 467-yard 14th has played the fourth hardest hole this week but McIlroy hit a fairway wood off the tee, rifled his second shot six feet beyond the pin and drained the putt to go five under for the day and eight clear at the top on 11 under par.
“I told him that was the best shot I’d ever seen him hit,” said caddie JP Fitzerland. “But then he topped it at the 16th.”
McIlroy hit a glorious four iron to 10 feet there but missed narrowly before tapping in back handed for his sixth birdie of the day.
But he then made history at the 17th, where he holed a 14 footer after another perfect iron shot to become the first player in the history of the US Open to get to 13 under par.
Needing a par at the last for a 64, he hooked his tee shot into the rough and found a decent lie. But he then tugged his ball into the water, finishing with a double bogey six for a 66.
McIlroy drops on the 18th. He failed to get up and down and made a double bogey six. Picture Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ieHis halfway total of 11 under 131 snipped a stroke off the US Open 36-hole aggregate record set by Ricky Barnes at Bethpage in 2009.
But it was also three shots better with respect to par than Tiger Woods’ eight under halfway record total set at Pebble Beach in 2000.
Woods won that US Open by a record 15 strokes and the way McIlroy is playing, that milestone is within his grasp.
Mickelson also doubled the last after a visit to the drink but still shot 69 to go into the weekend 12 shots behind.
Awestruck by McIlroy’s performance, the left-hander said: “He’s striking it flawlessly and putted great on the greens. His first two rounds were very impressive.”
Yang added a two under 69 to his opening 68 to get to five under and insisted that while he’s not thinking about McIlroy just yet, he doesn’t believe a six-shot deficit is insurmountable.
“Last year actually during the Korea Open back home, I played against Seung Noh, he was ten strokes ahead of me, and I won the Korea Open,” Yang said. “So anything can happen in golf, really. I know it’s sort of a different kind of level of golf tournament, but still, there are many amazing things that happen in golf.”
Outlinging his strategy, the 2009 US PGA champion said: ” I do have a strategy and that’s just to zone out everything around me and just play my game. I’m just going to try and block out everybody around me and every aspect around me and just imagine as if I’m just going to play I’m just having a practice round of my own. Hopefully that’ll help out.”