Rory McIlroy plans to “just bomb it everywhere” at the US PGA this weekend after admitting he can’t believe he is only five shots off the halfway lead.
The Ulsterman struggled with his swing coming into the second Major of the year and was three-over par after his first nine holes. But the world No.3 recovered to shoot an opening 71 - and nailed a 16-foot birdie putt at the last yesterday (Friday) for a 69 to move back to level par.
He is five shots back from the leaders Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners and Viktor Hovland in tied 10th place before more rain is forecast today.
“I think how terribly I've felt over the golf ball over the last two days, I’m not saying it could be up there with one of my best performances, but when I holed that putt at the last, I looked at the board, and I thought: ‘I can't believe I'm five back’,” McIlroy said. “I guess that's a good thing because I know if I can get it in play off the tee, that's the key to my success over the weekend. If I can get the ball in play off the tee, I'll have a shot.
The four-time Major champion revealed he was battling a two-way miss before this event and had received swing tips off Tiger Woods. But he has hit only seven out of 28 fairways at Oak Hill in his first two rounds to rank tied 146th in the 156-man field which includes 20 PGA professionals.
“I hardly miss a shot on the range, and then it's just trying to get it to go from the range to the golf course that I'm finding difficult,” said the double US PGA champion. “I think at this point I might just tee it high and just bomb it everywhere. I tried to hit that little cut off the tee on 16, and it nearly went OB.
“I hit my last two tee shots on 17 and 18 really hard, and they actually were really good tee shots. Every hole one side is sort of trouble and one side is not. As long as you're missing it in the right spots off the tees, I might as well just go for it and swing hard at it.”
Darlington’s Callum Tarren is the top Englishman after 36 holes in tied sixth alongside four-time Major winner Brooks Koepka.
The former PGA Tour China player shot a 67 yesterday to make the cut at a Major for the first time at his third attempt. He is world No.169, the same ranking as Shaun Micheel when he won here in 2003. Along with Justin Rose, he is one of only nine players under par on the demanding East Course at Oak Hill.
“I stayed out of my own way,” said Tarren. “As golfers we get to these Major championships and put them on a huge pedestal, which they are, but at the end of the day, you still have to just hit golf shots. I have just kind of gone about my business, kept to my practice routines and just seeing what happens really.
“I'm quite chilled. Of course it is because it's a major championship, and the golf course is an absolute monster, as you can see by the scores this week. I think I've just done a great job of just taking one shot at a time, discussing it with my caddie, and trying to execute. I've executed a lot the last two days.”
