McIlroy vows to "focus on focussing" as fan-less PGA Tour sends mind wandering
DUBLIN, OHIO - JULY 17: Tiger Woods of the United States wipes his forehead on the fourth green during the second round of The Memorial Tournament on July 17, 2020 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy admits his post-lockdown game has been a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly as he struggles to keep his concentration on the new-look PGA Tour.
After scrambling to a level par 72 alongside a struggling Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka at Muirfield Village to go into the weekend seven shots behind clubhouse leaders Ryan Palmer and Tony Finau in the Memorial Tournament, he insists that he must "focus on focussing" to get back to top form as the first major of the season approaches.
The Holywood star admits he's struggled to concentrate since returning to action a month ago and must now take steps to avoid the "bad errors and mistakes" that have left him without a top-10 finish since his return to the fairways.
"Honestly, that's been the story of my golf game since we came back," said McIlroy, who could lose his world No 1 crown to Jon Rahm tomorrow.
"There has been quite a bit of good in there, some bad and some bad errors and mistakes."
As Woods struggled with his back and was forced to finish birdie-birdie-par for a 76 to make the cut on the three-over-par mark alongside Koepka on three-over, McIlroy was left to reflect on a rollercoaster round.
Starting on the back nine, he was three-over after poor drives saw him start bogey, double-bogey. And while he made three birdies and a magnificent eagle three after that, he also had another three bogeys on his card, including his final hole.
"I didn't get off to the greatest of starts, three-over through two holes, but I felt like I battled back well to shoot what I did," he said.
"It would have been nice to finish a couple better if I had have taken advantage of that par-5 at the end, and the three-putt on [the last] sort of leaves a bit of a bitter taste, but I came back well, and that's all you can ask for."
With no fans lining the fairways, concentration is a problem for the Co Down man and not even a marquee group with major winners Woods and Koepka could get him zoned in.
"I alluded to that at the start of the week," he told Sky Sports. "I felt the first three events that I played... it was a good learning experience for me, as in what it is going to be like for the next few months anyway.
"You have to focus on focussing, if that makes sense. You just have to concentrate so hard because it is easy to lose focus out there. Playing with Brooks and Tiger, it is a marquee group, but it just doesn't feet the same. I'd say Tiger probably got his first sense of that this week.
"That's half the battle out there, just keeping your focus and I felt like I did it a little bit better over the past two days than the first few weeks and it's just something I am going to have to continue to work on."
“Aging is not fun. Early on in my career I thought it was fantastic because I was getting better and better and better, and now I’m just trying to hold on.”
There were still moments of brilliance, such as the sky-high, 260-yard five wood to nine feet that set up a spectacular eagle at the fifth that got his round back to level for the day but failed to raise a cheer.
But when it was pointed out to him that he hit that five wood closer than any wedge shot he played all day, he said: "I think I could bounce that back and say I'm No. 1 player on TOUR from 125 to 150 this year, so if you actually dig into the stats I'm actually hitting those shots pretty well.
"But today was just one of those days where I didn't hit good enough wedges."
As for Woods, the Masters champion struggled on the greens and with his body.
“Well, I don't have the same type of stamina as I used to have, that's four sure, when I was training hard and running and all that stuff,” he said. “Granted, I'm a lot older now, so things change, they evolve. Yeah, so it is what it is. Energy, you try to suck it up as best you can and get through it.”
He went on: “Aging is not fun. Early on in my career, I thought it was fantastic because I was getting better and better and better, and now I'm just trying to hold on.”
"Well, not very good. I three-putted two holes early, and whatever kind of momentum I was going to create, I stifled that early and fought it the rest of the day," Woods said "I wasn't quite moving as well as I'd like and couldn't quite turn back and couldn't quite clear. It was a bit of a struggle.
"It started this morning during the warmup. It wasn't quite as good as I'd like, and it is what it is."
While Woods made the three-over cut on the mark, Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell missed out.
Lowry was outside the top 100 for putting, taking 33 putts as he bogeyed two of his last four holes and added a 75 to an opening 73 to finish outside the projected cut line on four-over.
McDowell struggled from the tee and followed Thursday's 79 with a 76 to end the week on 11-over. As for the leaders, Palmer shot a 68 and big-hitting Finau a 69 to lead by a shot on nine-under from Rahm, who posted a 67.
The afternoon brought disaster for Bryson DeChambeau, who made a quintuple bogey 10 at the par-five 15th and shot 76 to miss the cut by two strokes.
Bryson DeChambeau arguing with a @PGATOUR official is gold pic.twitter.com/AajOEOGs5N
— Michael Bergman (@MLBergman_) July 18, 2020
He was level par for his second round after mixing five birdies with five bogeys before making a series of poor decisions.
After pulling his drive into water he dropped in thick rough and instead of chipping out, opted to hit a draw with a fairway wood and hit two in row out of bounds right.
His third attempt—a provisional—bounded down a cart path and stopped just short of water. He found what was his fifth shot against metal boundary fence and argued it wasn’t out of bounds.
He refused to accept the referee’s decision — “I don’t believe it” — and asked for a second opinion. Another referee arrived and gave the same ruling.
DeChambeau played his eighth onto the green and two-putted for his ten.
Bryson DeChambeau’s 10 on 15 would have been a great Curb episode pic.twitter.com/19l96CQYTD
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) July 18, 2020
2020 Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide
(The 28th of 36 events in the 2019-20 PGA TOUR Season)
Dublin, Ohio July 13-19, 2020 FedExCup Points: 500 Muirfield Village Golf Club Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,456 Purse: $9,300,000/$1,674,000
Second-Round Notes – Friday, July 17, 2020
Weather: Mostly sunny. High of 90. Wind W 5-10 mph.
36-hole cut: 74 professionals at 3-over 147 from a field of 130 professionals and one amateur
Second-Round Leaderboard
Ryan Palmer 67-68—135 (-9)
Tony Finau 66-69—135 (-9)
Jon Rahm 69-67—136 (-8)
Gary Woodland 68-70—138 (-6)
Chez Reavie 71-67—138 (-6)
Luke List 70-68—138 (-6)
Things to Know
In first Memorial Tournament start since 2011, Ryan Palmer in position for first individual TOUR title since 2010
In sixth start at the Memorial Tournament, Tony Finau moves closer to second career PGA TOUR title 112 starts after his first at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open
Five-time Memorial Tournament champion Tiger Woods makes the cut on the number to extend streak of made cuts at Muirfield Village to a perfect 18-for-18
In third place after 36 holes, Jon Rahm is one of four players who could overtake the No. 1 spot with a win this week
After seven consecutive top-10 finishes, including a win in his most recent start, Bryson DeChambeau made a quintuple-bogey-10 at No. 15 and missed the cut
The three-over cut ties the highest on TOUR this season with The Honda Classic and Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard
Ryan Palmer (-9/T1)
Takes 36-hole lead/co-lead for the eighth time on the PGA TOUR in individual stroke-play events; converted for the win at the 2008 Ginn sur Mer Classic and 2010 Sony Open in Hawaii
Making his sixth Memorial Tournament start and first since missing the cut in 2011
Fourth and most recent TOUR title came at the 2019 Zurich Classic of New Orleans paired with Jon Rahm; making 241st start since earning his most recent individual TOUR title at the 2010 Sony Open in Hawaii;
Seeks his fourth top-10 finish of the season and second since the TOUR’s Return to Golf (T8/RBC Heritage)
Ranks second in Strokes Gained: Tee To Green (8.465), behind only Jon Rahm (9.873)
Tony Finau (-9/T1)
Takes 36-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA TOUR for the third time (2017 Valero Texas Open/finished T3, 2018 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions/finished T2)
After sinking a total of 114’1” of putts in round one, made 43’11” of putts in round two
Is making his 112th start since earning his first and only PGA TOUR title at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open
Seeks his fourth top-10 finish of the 2019-20 season and first since a playoff loss to Webb Simpson at the Waste Management Phoenix Open
In four starts since the TOUR’s Return to Golf, has finished no better than T23 (Charles Schwab Challenge)
Additional Notes
In search of a record-breaking 83rd PGA TOUR victory, five-time Memorial Tournament winner Tiger Woods (T64/+3) extends his streak of made cuts in the event to a perfect 18-for-18
After bogeys on his first two holes of the day, Nos. 1 and 2, reigning U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland (T4/-6) made six birdies en route to a 2-under 70 as he seeks a third top-10 finish in his 10th Memorial Tournament start; has been unable to crack the top 20 in his last three starts (2019/T52, 2018/T23, 2017/T49)
Columbus resident Jason Day (7th/-5) rebounded from a 1-over 73 in round one with a 6-under 66 in round two, tying the low 18-hole score through 36 holes
Following a 2-over 74, 2016 Masters Tournament champion Danny Willett (T8/-4) tied the low round of the week in round two with a 6-under 66; finished T27 in his first Memorial Tournament start in 2019
Viktor Hovland (T8/-4), the only player (of 30) to make the cut in all five events since the TOUR’s Return to Golf, followed a 2-over 74 in round one with a 6-under 66 in round two; front-nine 30 tied his lowest nine-hole score on TOUR (most recent of three previous occasions: back nine of the 2020 Travelers Championship in round one)
Defending champion Patrick Cantlay (T8/-4) opened with back-to-back scores of 2-under 70
After seven consecutive top-10 finishes, including a win in his most recent start at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Bryson DeChambeau took a quintuple-bogey-10 at No. 15, shot 4-over 76 and missed the cut at 5-over 149; marked the highest single-hole score of his career
Dustin Johnson missed the cut following back-to-back scores of 8-over 80 (160), marking the highest 36-hole score of his career
The 2020 U.S. Open is offering an exemption to the two leading non-exempt players who finish in the top 10 (and ties) of this week’s Memorial Tournament; through 36 holes, the two leading non-exempt players are Ryan Palmer and Luke List
Bogey-free rounds
R1 (1): Ryan Palmer/67R2 (4): Matthew Fitzpatrick (66), Justin Thomas (67), Luke List (68), Xander Schauffele (69)
Danny Lee withdrew before round two (ankle injury)
