8/08/2014

McIlroy Posts PGA Target

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Rory McIlroy described his second round in the US PGA Championship at Valhalla as “a job well done”.

The 25-year-old Northern Irishman followed up his opening 66 with a four-under 67 to move to nine under at the halfway stage.

World number one Rory McIlroy shot 67 to lead the US PGA Championship after round two.

McIlroy, who is bidding to complete a hat-trick of victories after his wins in The Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, made a slow start in torrential rain in Louisville.

He bogeyed the 12th, after starting at the 10th, but got back on track with birdies at the 13th and 15th and missed from six feet for another on the 16th.

But he made amends by holing from 30 feet for an eagle on the 18th and could have had another eagle on the seventh, missing from eight feet after a stunning five-wood approach.

That birdie took him to eight under and another birdie at the ninth left him two shots clear of the field when he completed his round.

“I think it was a job well done,” McIlroy told Sky Sports. “The conditions were very tricky whenever the rain was coming down, obviously, and you sort of just had to wait for the moment when you had a break in the weather and you could sort of take advantage of the soft conditions.

“But I would have taken 67 going out this morning so yes it’s a job well done.

"The golf course was pretty wet so the ball is not running anywhere and whenever it's like that and no rain coming down it is very playable and you could make a score."

The world No 1 insists he is not thinking about lifting the trophy at this stage and is just concentrating on his game.

“Honestly, I am not thinking about winning,” added McIlroy. “I am just trying to think about trying to play solid golf and every shot at a time.

“I am sticking to my couple of little thoughts I have out there, a couple of little sort of trigger words that I have, and it has been working well. So I just need to keep doing that for the next two days.”


McIlroy Remains in PGA Mix

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Rory McIlroy overcame a mid-round wobble to put himself firmly in contention after the opening round of the US PGA Championship at Valhalla.

The new world No 1, who is bidding for a hat-trick of victories following his wins in the Open Championship and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, continued his fine form with three birdies on the front nine.

However, the wheels came off at the par-five 10th when he hooked his second shot out of bounds from the centre of the fairway and ran up a double-bogey seven.

He followed that up by three-putting the par-three 11th to slip back to level par and six shots off the lead.

McIlroy quickly steadied the ship, though, and stormed back up the leaderboard with four successive birdies from the 12th.

He then closed his round with another birdie at the 18th when his eagle putt shaved the hole to deny him a share of the lead.

"Things like 10 happen, you hit bad shots every now and again," he told Sky Sports. "I was really annoyed with myself to bogey the next hole as well, not to shake that off.

"But, after I hit the second shot at 12, I gave myself a little 'come on, that was better' and that sort of kick-started things.

"Thirteen was a good yardage for me. I knew it was just a good sand wedge, and that I could pitch it past the hole and that the slope and the spin would help it come back.

"It nearly went in but you settle for a birdie there and that was one of the good birdie opportunities on the back nine."

The 25-year-old admitted he was proud of the way he fought back.

"Three-putting after making double on 10, my response after that was really good, and it shows mentally where I am at with my game," he said.

"I'm really happy with the five-under start."

The Northern Irishman also believes he is driving the ball better than he has ever done in his career.

He said: "Yes, just look at the stats (average driving distance 327.8, driving accuracy 85.71%). I am driving the ball fantastically well, I'm really confident with it and the fairways this week are a little more generous than they were last week at Firestone.

"I feel like I can step up on these tees and hit it hard and hit the fairways so, if I can keep stats like that up for the next few days, I will be happy."