McIlroy lurking in Toronto after bogey-free 67
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes to lurk just three shots off the lead at halfway as he bids to become the first player to win the RBC Canadian Open three years in a row.
The world number three is playing the course almost blind after a busy start to the week due to the off-course PIF merger bombshell.
But he made it look easy as he fired a bogey-free, five-under 67 to share 12th place on six-under-par, three shots behind Chinese rookie Carl Yuan.
“Yeah, three back going into the weekend, I'm pretty pleased with that," said McIlroy, who tops the putting statistics after missing just twice between four and 10 feet at Oakdale Golf & Country Club in Toronto.
"Finished strongly out there this afternoon. Yeah, I feel pretty good with where I'm at. Would have been nice to be one or two closer to the lead, but I thought today went well.”
McIlroy played the tough front nine in one under before coming home in 32 with birdies at the 10th, 14th, 17th and 18th.
"I felt like I did everything, maybe not everything better today,” he added. "I felt like I putted pretty well yesterday. But iron play was better, wedges were definitely better, got it in play a little more off the tee.
"So, yeah, it was a better, more solid round. It was nice to actually play the front nine and have it, I actually knew what I was doing and where I was going, so that was good.
"And, yeah, like the front nine's one of those nines, you get round in 1-, 2-under par and then you've done pretty well. Obviously the back nine gives you a ton of opportunities to score."
Chinese rookie Yuan shot a 67 to lead by one stroke from England’s Aaron Rai (69) and Tyrrell Hatton (64), Canadian Corey Conners (69) and Chinese Taipei’s CT Pan (66).
Shane Lowry also had a good day on the greens, reeling off six birdies in a three-under 69.
Less than 24 hours after losing more than two strokes to the field on the greens, the 2019 Open champion gained nearly two shots when he made over 100 feet of putts to share 32nd on three-under.
He got off to the perfect start, making four putts between eighth and 16 feet for birdies at the 10th, 11th, 15th and 16th to turn in four-under 32.
He would hand two shots back at the first, where he overshot the green from the rough and missed a four-footer for bogey. But he would go on to play the last eight holes in one-under par.
After following a birdie from 24 feet at the fourth with a bogey at the sixth, he brushed in a 19-footer for a two at the 183-yard ninth for his 69.
But there was no luck for Dubliner David Carey, who came through a four-man playoff for three spots in Sunday’s pre-qualifier as he added a two-over 74 to his first-round 73 miss the one-unde-par cut on three-over-par.
The touring professional for Dundonald Links birdied the first two holes. But he hit just five fairways, and with thick rough, the big challenge this week, he bogeyed the fourth, fifth, eighth, 10th, 11th and 15th before finishing with two birdies.
On the Challenge Tour, Ruaidhri McGee made an eagle and six birdies in a five-under 67 to move up to fourth at halfway in the Andalucía Challenge de Cádiz.
He’s five strokes behind England’s Sam Hutsby (67) and Australia’s Jordan Zunic (64), who lead by three shots from Italy’s Filippo Celli at Iberostar Real Golf Novo Sancti Petri.
Conor Purcell fired a six-under 66 to move up to tied 22nd on six-under, with John Murphy a shot further back after a 72.
Paul Dunne made a valiant effort to make the cut, but his five-under 67 left him a shot outside the mark on two-under with Dermot McElroy one-under after a 73.
At the DP World Tour’s Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed, England’s Dale Whitnell carded an 11-under 61 to lead by six shots from Germany’s Yannick Paul (68) on 17-under.
England’s Alice Hewson (67) and France’s Emma Grechi (70) were the leading LET players on five-under at Ullna Golf and Country Club in Stockholm.
On the LPGA Tour, Stephanie Meadow birdied the 18th to open with a three-over 74 in the ShopRite LPGA Classic near Atlantic City.
She was tied for 109th, ten shots behind Sweden’s Dani Holmqviist, who shot a 65 to lead by a shot from Yan Liu of China and South Korea’s Jenny Shin at Seaview’s Bay Course.
In amateur golf, Robert Moran and Peter O'Keeffe shot five-under 66s on the New Course to share the first-round lead at the St Andrews Links Trophy.
Colm Campbell was tied 10th after a 68 and Caolan Rafferty and Mark Power tied 18th with 69s as Alex Magure, Sean Keeling and Thomas Higgins shot 70s to share 33rd.
