Sergio Garcia produced most of the magic, but Rory McIlroy – his friend, foe and oft-time tormentor – showed his own brand of sorcery to pursue the Spaniard as the BMW Championship at Cherry Hills in Denver, the third of four tournaments in the US Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs, moved into a higher gear.
Although Garcia raced into the midway lead in the tournament with a second round 64 for 132, eight-under-par, McIlroy – the world number one – came to life late on with a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th hole to salvage his round, shoot another 67 and move to within two strokes of a player who will be his team-mate at the Ryder Cup later this month.
McIlroy, with designs on capturing the $10 million bonus payout which awaits the FedEx Cup champion following next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta, looked out of sorts with his game until his putter, so cold for much of the round, got hot as he neared the clubhouse: he rolled in a 28-footer for birdie on the 15th, sank a 35-footer on the 16th and, then, made the most of a good break on the 17th where his pulled tee shot hit a tree only for the ball to ricochet back to the fairway for a run of three successive birdies followed by a closing par that saw him sign for a second successive 67 for 134, two behind Garcia.
The 25-year-old Northern Irishman birdied his second hole, where he hit a huge drive of 344 yards and followed with a lob wedge approach to nine feet, but failed to find any momentum and dropped a shot on the fifth where he pushed his drive into the right rough on the Par 4 hole of 526 yards and could only advance it to 60 yards short of the green. He failed to get up and down for his par.
McIlroy, who had finished his opening round on Thursday with two bogeys in his closing three holes, was again frustrated in the second round when, after driving to within 60 yards of the Par 4 seventh, he failed to convert a birdie chance. McIlroy turned in 34 shots, level par for his round and three-under for the tournament, at which stage he was three adrift of Garcia.
But just as it seemed he was slipping away in wrong direction and further from pacesetter Garcia, McIlroy finally found his putting touch with a run from the 15th that reignited his challenge and placed him as one of Garcia’s chief pursuers heading into the weekend.
Garcia for his part produced his share of magic, including holing out from a greenside bunker for birdie on the second and then holing a lob wedge approach from 126 yards for an eagle on the seventh. But it was Garcia’s putting that was his true saviour, as he wielded the blade like a magic wand: “Putting is so mental,” he confessed afterwards, “some weeks you just feel it better than others.”
Garcia, who missed out on last week’s Deutsche Bank Championship won by Chris Kirk, reached the midpoint of the championship a shot clear of Ryan Palmer (who also recorded a 64) and two clear of McIlroy.
“I think the important thing is to keep feeling better (about my game). The PGA (at Valhalla) and the Barclays, I didn’t feel great. I want to build on this bit of momentum over the weekend and make sure that I am where I need to be for the Ryder Cup. That’s the important thing for me,” said Garcia.
Whilst McIlroy - winner of back-to-back Majors in capturing the British Open and the US PGA with the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational title also sandwiched in between - again contended, Graeme McDowell, returning to competition after a planned week off to celebrate the birth of his daughter, shot a second round 72 for a midway total of 145. McDowell needs to finish in the top-five to advance on to next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta, which is confined to the top-30 on the FedEx Cup standings.
