McIlroy not giving up on title chase as Sharma and Smith scorch clear at The K Club
Rory McIlroy
They don't call Rory McIlroy box office gold for nothing, but he plans to rein in his power today and try and plot his way back into contention for a repeat victory at The K Club in the Horizon Irish Open after a rollercoaster finish to his second round.
The world number two was nine shots off the lead and struggling to get any momentum when he came to the 16th he famously eagled en route to victory in 2016 and zipped a 116-yard gap wedge off the slope behind a pin into the hole for an outrageous eagle three.
"Harry said, 'Thank God you missed that fairway' because I would have been going for the green and God knows what would have happened'," McIlroy joked of the 16th. "All good."
He was in good form thanks to a closing birdie four, having undone the good work at the 16th by making a double-bogey six at the treacherous 17th, where he lipped out from four feet after taking four shots to find the green from the right rough.
It all added up to a hard-fought 70 that left him tied for 26th with Kilkenny's Mark Power on five-under-par. And while he's eight strokes behind the leaders, India's Subhankar Sharma and England's Jordan Smith, he believes he has the experience to mount a title charge in front of a full house this weekend.
"I'm certainly not afraid of it," McIlroy said of the task ahead. "I'd rather be a few shots closer. But you know, I need to go out in the morning and shoot a low one and put the ball in play off the tee and give myself opportunities from the fairway.
"And if I do that and just get a few putts to drop, then there's low scores to be heard on this golf course. Especially in foggy conditions."
As early fog burnt off, overnight leader Sharma threatened to run away with the championship, making nine single putts in a scorching front nine that matched the weather — a seven-under-par 28.
But he came home in 38 to add a 66 to his opening 65 and after being briefly passed by Smith, who played his first 15 holes in eight-under, he ended the day tied on 13-under with the Englishman, who double-bogeyed the 17th and birdied the last for a 65.
They lead by a shot from 2010 champion Ross Fisher, who resurrected a trusty old blade to card a second consecutive 66.
Shane Lowry leads the Irish challenge after finishing birdie-birdie to post his second 68 in a row.
But they will be looking over their shoulders for McIlroy.
Never a threat on the greens, he followed a birdie at the fourth with a bogey at the short ninth, where he found the Liffey from the tee.
Nothing continued to happen until the 16th and while the eagle was cancelled out by that double bogey, it was a reminder of the magic he can create from very little.
"I don't have to do any pushing," he said. "I just have to get the ball in play off the tee."
McIlroy is tied for 26th with Power (23), who followed a bogey-free 68 with a grinding 71 to make the cut in his first appearance as a professional.
"I'm just trying to take it all in," he said after making an 18-footer at the 18th to turn in one-under before finishing with nine straight pars. "Getting a start at my home open as my first professional event is crazy.
"I couldn't have dreamt of anything better and to play the way I have. I haven't had my best, but my iron play has really been good, and it has given me a lot of chances to score. I have only had one bogey over two rounds and it has been pretty stress-free, to be honest."
Lowry, McIlroy and Power are joined for the weekend by Pádraig Harrington, Tom McKibbin and Conor Purcell, who all made the cut on the two-under mark,
Harrington, who birdied at the par-fives and holed his share of putts, carded a three-under 69 and McKibbin a 70 to sit anxiously on the cut line all day.
But after following three early birdies on the back nine with a double-bogey seven at the 16th, Purcell eagled the 18th with a seven-iron to four feet before battling home in one-under to shoot 68 and make the weekend.
“Yeah, I've hit the same shot with that wedge to right pins all year and I've done it again, hit it in the water,” Purcell said of the 16th. “And then I ripped it down 18, had a nice number and hit seven iron to four foot and rolled it in.”
He followed a birdie four at the fourth by making a 14-footer for bogey at the fifth after flying miles over the green.
“You are coming out dead out of the rough all weekend and I got a burnt patch and it went about 40 yards over the green. I holed a nice 14 footer for bogey.”
He then took advantage of a slice of luck at the seventh to make birdie and chiselled out two closing pars.
“I hit my tree wood straight right and though it was in the water, hit the trees and dropped straight down in the trees,” he said of the tough seventh. “I had a perfect gap and hit seven iron to nine feet and then rolled it in, which was nice. I was just trying to cling on the last two.“
He was understandably thrilled to make the cut, having shot 74 in round one.
“Yeah, especially having the first day that I did. Just to come back and shoot a nice one to get in for the weekend is nice,” the Portmarnock man said. “I actually like this golf course. I just hit my irons pretty badly yesterday. So I improved on that today and gave myself plenty of chances and hopefully more of the same.”
As for his recovery from the double bogey at the 16th, he knew he just had to be patient.
“Yeah, it kind of helps it's fairly early in the round and you still have plenty chances coming in,” said Purcell, who is having a good season on the Challenge Tour and still has options to win his DP World Tour card.
“That tee shot on 17 wasn't the nicest after making double but apart from that, I can't complain.”
A total of 90 players made the cut, which means the field is covered by just 11 strokes.
"It's very tight on the tour now," Harrington said. "Nobody blows themselves out of it. Everybody stays in it."
Today’s tee times
7.15: Lorenzo-Vera, Easton, Helligkilde
7.25: Guerrier, Purcell, Figureido
7.35: Wallace, Otaegui, Wang
7.45: Du Plessis, Pulkkanen, Aphibarnrat
7.55: Huizing, Wilson, Schmid
8.05: Ferguson, Southgate, Forsstrom
8.20: Bachem, Law, Brown
8.30: Ramsay, Hoge, McKibbin
8.40: Tarrio, Harrington, Hanna
8.50: Morrison, Olesen, Wu
9.00: Pavon, Kjeldsen, Wiebe
9.10: Syme, Baldwin, Gallacher
9.25: Horschel, Lombard, Soderberg
9.35: Van Rooyen, Shinkwin, Hoshino
9.45: Clements, Dantorp, Paul
9.55: Campillo, Del Rey, Von Dellingshausen
10.05: Mansell, Rai, Fox
10.15: Valimaki, Johannessen, Donald
10.30: Waring, Cockerill, Hilliard
10.40: Meronk, McIlroy, Detry
10.50: Normann, Zanotti, De Jager
11.00: Power, Higa, Norgaard
11.10: Lindberg, Lee, Siem
11.20: Fitzpatrick, Larrazabal, Scrivener
11.35: Brun, Lawrence, Forrest
11.46: Langasque, Parry, Green
11.57: Elvira, Schneider, Luiten
12.08: Lowry, Jamieson, Migliozzi
12.19: Schott, Hill, Long
12.30: Fisher, Smith, Sharma
