Rory McIlroy shrugged off a disappointing finish to his second round of the Players Championship and insisted he would relish the forecasted tough weekend conditions at Sawgrass.
Mcllroy bogeyed two of his last four holes to add a 68 to his opening 67 and lie two shots behind clubhouse leaders Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia, who both shot 66 to reach 11 under par.
Starting from the 10th, McIlroy chipped in for birdie on his opening hole and picked up further shots on the 12th, 14th, 16th and 18th to cover the back nine in 31. The world number two also birdied the par-five second but dropped a shot on the sixth after twice finding sand on the difficult par four, which has provoked a mixed reaction from the players after an overhanging tree – replacing the original that had to be removed 11 years ago – was planted in front of the tee.
McIlroy also bogeyed the par-five ninth after his second shot clattered into the trees short of the green but he was happier with his long game than he had been on Thursday.
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“Much better,” McIlroy said when asked to assess his swing. “Hit it much better off the tee. I think I hit more fairways in six holes today than I did in 18 yesterday.
“Yeah, got it in play much better and then from there was able to give myself some opportunities and obviously make some birdies early. Couldn’t quite continue that on to the back nine, but it was much better off the tee.”
Wind gusting up to 48km/h is forecast for Saturday and Sunday, but McIlroy believes he is well equipped to deal with the challenge as he seeks a second Players Championship title.
“I’m looking forward to it,” the 2019 winner said. “I think it’s going to be really important to try to flight your ball and keep it under the tree line. I think once it gets above the tree line here it can start to really get hit by it.
“It does swirl a little bit, but I think when the wind is so strong it will be a little more consistent. This course is challenging enough, but with a wind like that, yeah, I’m excited for that challenge.
“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.”
Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa was alongside McIlroy on nine under par following a superb 65, with Tommy Fleetwood on seven under after a 66 and world number one Scottie Scheffler two strokes farther back following a 70.
Playing alongside McIlroy and Scheffler, US PGA and Open champion Xander Schauffele birdied the ninth – his final hole of the day – to finish one under par and potentially extend his streak of made cuts to 59, the longest since Tiger Woods’s run of 142 from 1998-2005.
“I was thinking about the cut line for sure,” Schauffele said. “Knew I needed to make birdie. I think two-putting is probably the easiest way to birdie nine and I was able to do that.”
