McIlroy two back as Lowry sneaks under cut line at Sawgrass
Rory McIlroy hasn’t always enjoyed windy conditions but it’s a sign of how much he’s matured that he’s looking forward to getting creative in 30mph gusts as he bids for his second Players Championship win this weekend.
After confessing to riding his luck at times en route to an opening 67, the world number two was far more impressive as he carded a four-under 68 to go into the last two rounds just two shots behind clubhouse leaders Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia.
He hit just four fairways on Thursday, but he missed just three yesterday and showed his liking for the back nine when he raced to the turn in five-under 31 to take the lead.
He birdied every second hole from the moment he chipped in for an opening birdie at the 10th. But after taking his back nine tally to 56-under since 2013, he was not too downcast as he came home in one-over to be seven-over for the opening stretch over the same period.
“Much better,” he said of his performance from the tee, despite following a birdie at the second (his 11th) with bogeys at the sixth and ninth coming home. “I think I hit more fairways in six holes today than I did in 18 yesterday… Couldn't quite continue that on to the back nine, but it was much better off the tee.”
Young guns Lee (26) and Bhatia (23) shot 66 to lead by a shot on 11-under from JJ Spaun with McIlroy lurking a shot further back alongside the highly-fancied Collin Morikawa, who shot 65.
But even with wind forecast to gust to 30mph this weekend, McIlroy is looking forward to trying to win at TPC Sawgrass for the second time since 2019 and to continuing to display the competitive longevity that impresses peers like world number one Scottie Scheffler.
“It's very impressive, not only his week-to-week but his longevity year after year,” Scheffler said after admitting to frustration on the greens as he carded a 70 to trail the leaders by six shots and McIlroy by four.
“The guy's won, I think they said 27 times this morning on the first tee on Tour, and he's doing a few things right to be putting up those kind of numbers.”
A rusty world number three Xander Schauffele posted a 71 to sit on the projected cut line and McIlroy admitted he was proud that he’s managed to take on all comers since he first went to world number one in 2012, when Scheffler was a few months shy of his 16th birthday.
“I think the fact that the battles I've had for that No. 1 spot in the world, whether it be with Luke Donald and Lee Westwood back in the day, all the way up to Xander and Scottie now and sort of everyone in between, it's nice that the common denominator sometimes is me, that I've been able to stay there,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, I'm super proud of that.”
His determination to improve is also worthy of admiration.
"Just trying to control my ball flight, trying to hit different shots, trying to play with some creativity is something that I think I've gotten a lot better at over the last few years,” he said of what excites him about the weekend forecast.
Scheffler looked frequently frustrated, especially on the greens, but after shrugging off a neck injury to retain the title last year, he can’t be ruled out for an unprecedented hattrick.
Shane Lowry dug deep and produced a three-under back nine to squeak over the cut line but Seamus Power missed out by four.
As Justin Thomas rallied after an opening 78 to card a course record-equalling 62 to shoot up the leaderboard, Lowry looked to be heading for a weekend off.
He dropped early shots at the fifth and eighth to slip three shots outside the projected cut line.
But despite battling an ice-cold putter, he birdied the par-five 11th, then made an eight-footer at the 14th to get to within one shot of the cut line on level par.
He needed to pick up at least one shot coming in and got his break at the treacherous 17th, where he hit a superb approach to four feet and brushed in the putt.
He parred the last to add a 71 to his opening 72 and eventually made the last two rounds with nothing to spare.
He’s just ten strokes behind leaders Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia, who lead by a shot on 11-under from JJ Spaun and by two from Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and Alex Smalley.
US Ryder Cup star Thomas was the big winner in the afternoon wave as he made 11 birdies in his first 17 holes before finding water with his approach to the 18th.
His 62 still matched Tom Hoge’s course record and catapulted him to 29th on four-under.
“That was one of the best rounds I've played, for sure,” Thomas said. “Mentally, it was the biggest thing.
“I felt like I did an unbelievable job of just staying, keeping my eyes forward, keeping my blinders on, not looking backwards, forwards, anything like that.
“It was just, how can I put this ball in the fairway off the tee, and then how can I make birdie, and let's rinse and repeat. I putted the ball beautifully, too—just one of those days.”
Power also birdied the 17th but a one-under 71 left him four shots outside the cut mark on three-over after the damage was done by an opening 76.
Tom McKibbin carded a four-under 67 at LIV Golf Singapore to move up to tied 25th on one under.
He’s ten shots behind Joaquin Niemann (64) and Dustin Johnson (68), who lead by a shot on 11-under at Sentosa Golf Club from Sebastian Munoz, Cameron Tringale, Jason Kokrak and Lucas Herbert.
Graeme McDowell’s 71 left him 51st in the 54-man field on seven over, while in the team competition, Johnson’s 4Aces had a five-shot lead over HyFlyers with McKibbin’s Legion XIII 11 shots off the pace in fifth.
On the Ladies European Tour, Lauren Walsh fired a brilliant, bogey-free, five under 65 to move into contention at the Australian Women’s Classic.
She’s tied for sixth on six-under at Coffs Harbour, just four shots behind Australia’s Sarah Kemp heading into the final round.
Kemp shot an eight-under 62 to lead by two shots from Manon De Roey and Darcey Harry in ten-under.
Elm Park’s Anna Foster was 24th on level par after a 69, but Annabel Wilson shot 74 to miss the four-over-par cut by a shot.
On the HotelPlanner Tour in India, Laytown and Bettystown’s. Alex Maguire goes into the third round ten shots off the pace at halfway in the Kolkata Challenge at Royal Calcutta.
The former Walker Cup player shot a second successive 72 to make the level par cut on the mark.
Galway’s Liam Nolan missed out by two shots after a 72 as India’s Om Prakash shot 68 and England’s Joshua Berry a brilliant 62 to lead by a shot from Norway’s Andreas Halvorsen (66) on 10-under.
