McIlroy braced for tough weekend after torrid Friday at Bay Hill
Rory McIlroy
RORY MCILROY insists he'll be ready for the conditions and armed with patience today after admitting he was caught out by the "glassy" greens in the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
The overnight leader started his second round two shots behind Viktor Hovland, who took advantage of easier morning conditions and carded a best of the day, six-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead on nine-under-par.
McIlroy bogeyed the first but birdied at the fourth, seventh and eighth to join Hovland in the lead.
But as the course dried out and the greens firmed up, he could not birdie the par-five 12th or 16th and lost confidence on the greens, three-putting the 15th from 30 feet and then missing an eight-footer for par at the 17th before failing to make a 14-foot chance at the last.
A level par 72 left the Holywood star tied for second with Tyrrell Hatton and Talor Gooch, who both shot 68, on seven-under.
He later admitted it was one of the most testing days he's experienced at the Orlando venue and that patience would be key for the last two days.
"I don't think it's maybe quite as devilish as the weekend the last couple years because the fairways are sort of soft," said the Co Down man, who will tee it up in the penultimate group with Gooch as Hovland partners Hatton.
"But those are the sort of greens you expect to see late on a Sunday, not late on a Friday.
"It's going to be interesting to see where they go from here, but it's going to be a good test over the weekend. I'm glad I got 18 holes in those conditions because the course definitely changed a lot from when I played it yesterday morning to this afternoon. I'll be a little more prepared for it tomorrow."
Just 18 players broke par with only three of those scores coming in the afternoon wave — Gooch with a 68 and Cameron Young and Lucas Herbert with 71s.
"They'll be -- yeah, glassy and firm and -- you know, they'll be tricky," McIlroy of what he expects from the greens come Sunday. "You just have to land it on your spots with the right spin and the right trajectory.
"So you just have to be so, so precise whenever the greens get like this. It puts even more of a premium on hitting the ball in the fairway so that you can put some spin on the ball to control it into these greens."
It took five hours to get around and McIlroy is hoping it will be quicker at the weekend despite the difficulty.
"It was slow," he said. "It's always going to be slow whenever the greens get this tricky and this firm and this fast. Playing in two balls the next couple of days will be a little bit quicker.
"But that's what it's about. Just not getting frustrated over the weekend, having as much patience as possible. Again, just trying to make pars and pick off a birdie here and there, that's the game plan."
Graeme McDowell slipped back to tied 30th on level par after finding water with his approach and running up a triple-bogey seven at the 11th in a four-over 76.
Pádraig Harrington added a 74 to his 73 to make the cut on the mark in three-over.
“Bogeyed my last to shoot 74 and look like missing the cut but ended up unbelievably making the cut on plus three,” Harrington said on Twitter. “I’m T2 in driving accuracy and T4 in strokes gained off the tee so plenty of opportunities to make some birdies on the weekend if I keep that up.”
Séamus Power missed out on eight-over after following an 80 with a 72 featuring four birdies and four bogeys.
