Rory McIlroy got off to a scintillating start on day two of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at Kingsbarns with three birdies and an eagle in his first five holes but failed to capitalise after that.
The four-time Major winner, who opened with a round of 70 at Carnoustie yesterday, birdied the first, the fourth and the fifth with an eagle three coming at the third.
However, McIlroy then could only card six pars until another birdie followed at the 12th and a further six pars to finish leaving him at eight under par after a 67 and six off the lead held by England’s Matthew Jordan.
McIlroy is the best of the Irish by just one shot with Pádraig Harrington at seven under after he signed for a 68, also playing at Kingsbarns. British Open Shane Lowry, who still narrowly leads the Race to Dubai ahead of Jon Rahm, carded seven birdies and a single bogey on his way to a 66 at Kingsbarns to sit at five under and one shot outside the current projected cut mark which is made after three rounds due to the rotation between St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie.
Graeme McDowell has work to do to make that cut after a round of 70 at Kingsbarns left him at two under while Paul Dunne looks set to miss an eighth cut in his last 10 events after a round of 75 at St Andrews which was thrown off the rails by a quadruple bogey eight at the Par 4 13th before two more bogeys to finish.
But at the top of the leaderboard it’s Matthew Jordan who has already enjoyed one victory at St Andrews and surged into pole position for a highly-lucrative second win at the home of golf.
Jordan had visions of the second sub-60 score on the European Tour after covering the front nine of the Old Course in just 29 shots with an eagle on the third followed by five straight birdies.
And although the 23-year-old had to settle for an eight-under-par 64, that gave him a halfway total of 14 under par and a one-shot lead over fellow Challenge Tour player Calum Hill, Matthew Southgate and Joakim Lagergren.
“The 59 did cross my mind,” said Jordan, who finished 15th in the British Masters in May after an opening 63 at Hillside. “I had my friends here and they were quick to tell me that they wanted the same on the back nine.
“It was in my head but really I knew the rain was coming in as well.”
Jordan turned professional in September 2018 after a stellar amateur career which saw him reach fifth in the world rankings, claim a nine-shot victory in the Lytham Trophy and also win the St Andrews Links Trophy in 2017.
Victory on the Challenge Tour in Italy at the end of June earned Jordan £43,000 and means he is on course to earn his European Tour card for next season.
However, all that and more will be taken care of if the world number 292 from Hoylake can lift the title on Sunday and claim the first prize of £650,000.
“I had one more invite and gave myself the luxury of thinking, oh, try and play this because of the field, prize money, links golf, which I love,” Jordan added.
“So I just asked my guys and they tried to sort it out because I really wanted to play it and I absolutely love this place. I’ll try to make the most of it.
“Now I’m in this position I want to make sure I kick on and take care of my golf instead of having the whole experience be an ‘Oh my God’ kind of thing.”
Hill’s two victories on the Challenge Tour this season have effectively secured his promotion to the European Tour but the 24-year-old Scot knows he and Jordan face the toughest course in round three.
“I think it’s slightly different this week because everyone is playing a different course at a different time,” Hill said after a bogey-free 65 at St Andrews. “So whatever my position right now, it’s probably slightly higher than those that have started on Carnoustie.
“It’s just about playing as well as you can and going as low as you can over these first two days and then after three rounds I think you can look at your position a bit better and judge what you need to do for the final day.”
Lagergren’s 62 at Kingsbarns was the lowest round of the day, with Justin Rose having to settle for a 64 at the same venue after covering the front nine in just 28 with six birdies and an eagle.
Rose stumbled on the back nine with a double bogey on the 11th but ended the day just two shots off the lead.
“You never know when it’s going to happen like that,” Rose said. “I was aware I was going low but was super relaxed. Sometimes you can get in your own way when you’re on a really good run.
“I kept it going nicely on the front nine and just got caught out on number 11, but I felt like every time I made a mistake today, I bounced back pretty quickly.”
