McIlroy Finds Some Fizz in Atlanta

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Rory McIlroy's bid for a FedEx Cup title got off to a slow start at theTour Championship on Thursday before signing for a round of 69.

McIlroy is one of five players who know victory at East Lake would also see them secure the overall FedEx Cup title won by Sweden's Henrik Stenson last year, the others being Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel, Bubba Watson and Hunter Mahan.

And the world number one was just two off the lead after playing his first nine holes in one under par as the 29-strong field found scoring conditions unexpectedly difficult.

McIlroy pushed his drive on the first and saw his attempted recovery shot clip a tree and travel only 40 yards, but the 25-year-old's third shot grazed the side of the hole as it rolled past and he holed from eight feet for par.

A superb approach to two feet set up McIlroy's first birdie of the day on the third, but he promptly gave that shot back after a poor drive on the fourth and hit an even worse drive on the next.

Fortunately for the fourt-time major winner, his ball bounced out of the trees and allowed him to find the green with his approach and make par, while he holed from six feet on the sixth to get back into red figures.

That did not last long after two visits to sand on the seventh cost him a bogey, but McIlroy again rebounded immediately with a birdie from eight feet on the eighth.

Another birdie chance went begging from 10 feet on the par-five ninth, but at one under McIlroy was just two behind American duo Ryan Palmer and Patrick Reed, with playing partner Watson, Kirk and Cameron Tringale all on two under.

McIlroy's long and straight driving has been his major weapon this season, helping him win the Open Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and US PGA in consecutive appearances.

However, the Northern Irishman was struggling to find the fairways at East Lake and another errant drive found a fairway bunker on the 10th, from where he had to settle for par.

McIlroy then bogeyed the 11th after duffing his second shot from the fringe and dropped back to level par, three behind Reed, former FedEx winner Bill Haas and Masters champion Watson, who had holed from eight feet on the 10th.

Ryan Palmer held the clubhouse lead on one under after a 69, while Justin Rose struggled to a two-over-par 72.

Tournament officials had already announced that Friday's tee times had been brought forward by three hours due to bad weather being forecast.

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McIlroy's Labor Day in Boston

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Rory McIlroy continued second round of the Deutsche Bank Championship showing some inconsistency as Australian Jason Day continued his form to tie American Ryan Palmer for the lead in Boston.

Despite an unexpected bogey on his final hole, Day carded a three-under-par 68 in fluctuating afternoon winds while Palmer shot a 71 in the morning at the TPC Boston.

They finished level at eight-under 134, one stroke ahead of Americans Matt Kuchar (66) and Billy Horschel (66) on a tightly-bunched leaderboard.

McIlroy, slowed by a double-bogey at the par-four 14th where his approach shot bounded 30 yards over the green into a hazard, fired a 69 to trail the leaders by five shots.

Day, the world number seven whose quest this year to win a first Major title was ruined by a thumb injury, maintained the red-hot form he displayed last week to tie for second in the first of the PGA Tour’s four FedExCup play-off events.

“To be in contention last week and (again) this week goes to show the hard work I’ve put in the last four or five weeks is definitely paying off,” Day told reporters.

Day’s round was a tale of two halves. He was five under on the front nine but two over coming home as the swirling wind made it difficult to judge club selection.

The Australian had visions of a birdie at the par-five 18th when he had an iron in his hands for his second shot, only to drop a stroke after firing his approach over the green and taking four more shots to hole out.

“I made the front nine look very easy today (and) made the back nine look very hard, but overall I’m very happy with how I’ve played the last couple of days,” Day said.

Palmer, meanwhile, says his goal over the final two rounds was to play well enough to “make it hard on Tom Watson”.

He was referring to the US Ryder Cup captain, who on Tuesday will announce his three wildcard selections to complete the 12-man team to take on holders Europe at Gleneagles in Scotland next month.

“I’m proud of the way I hung in today. I had to grind it out,” said Palmer. “It could have got away pretty fast (but I) stayed patient, stayed calm and salvaged even par.”

A total of 80 players made the cut, which fell at three-over 145, and several Americans with hopes of earning a late Ryder Cup spot bowed out early, including Brendon Todd,Kevin Na and 2012 FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker.

The top 70 players on the FedExCup points list after the Deutsche Bank Championship advance to next week’s BMW Championship in Englewood, Colorado where the leading 30 will qualify for the Tour Championship finale in Atlanta.

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Rory Under Par at Deutsche

Rory McIlroy ended the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston on Friday with a round of 70, finishing one under par. A day which featured a mix of five birdies and four bogeys, left the 25-year-old Northern Irishman eight strokes adrift of leader Ryan Palmer.

After McIlroy finished his round, he playfully flicked a tee peg in the direction of Jason Day and missed. “Not the first one I’ve missed today,” quipped McIlroy, who had started off like a train with three birdies in his opening four holes only to falter coming in.

McIlroy – seeking to return to the top of the FedEx Cup standings – made an ominous early move with birdies on the 10th, where he started, from inside two feet; the 11th, where he holed a 35-footer, and the 13th where he again played a majestic approach to 18 inches. He suffered a first bogey of his round on the 17th, where he failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker.

Although McIlroy returned to three under on his round with a 10-footer for birdie on the fourth, he stumbled coming in with back-to-back bogeys on the fifth (where he found a fairway bunker) and the sixth (where he missed the green left with a poor approach shot). A tap-in birdie on the seventh was followed by a dropped shot on his finishing hole when his tee shot was pushed into the right rough.

“The golf course (is) playing tougher than the last couple of years. It’s firmer, (the) rough is up, windier. . .” said McIlroy, who has his eyes set on capturing the $10 million bonus prize on offer to the winner of the FedEx Cup play-offs. McIlroy – who won the British Open, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and US PGA in successive tournaments in July-August – fell behind Hunter Mahan into second in FedEx the standings following the opening play-off series event last week, the Barclays.

McIlroy – who is sticking to a plan to play all four play-off events, moving on from Boston to the BMW in Colorado next week and then the Tour Championship in Atlanta – remains very much in the hunt going into the weekend in Boston, where there is a Monday finish on what is the Labor Day holiday in the United States.

Bradley, playing in front of home galleries and seeking to impress US Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson, showed his form with an opening round 65 and admitted that getting a wild card pick was very much on his mind. “Yeah, it always is . . . when I eat, when I sleep. I’m not going to say a bunch of clichés and say I’m not thinking about the Ryder Cup . . . I know (Watson) is watching.”

But another player from the European camp looking for a captain’s pick for Gleneagles also stepped up to the mark. Ian Poulter, who is outside an automatic spot, needs a wild card pick from Paul McGinley if he is to follow up on his heroics at Medinah two years ago. But, unlike Bradley, the Englishman – who opened with a fine 67 – was adamant he wasn’t thinking of the Ryder Cup. “I’m not thinking about it . . . it’s been a s**t year and I want that to turn around right now,” he said.

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Shane Lowry in Dark Start

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Shane Lowry felt it was “a joke” that play started in a torrential downpour on the second day of the US PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Lowry was in the first group out at 7:30am local time but was unable to complete the opening hole before play was suspended.

And to make matters worse, the 27-year-old and playing partners Ryan Palmer and Bob Sowards were kept out on the course as officials believed the rain would clear quickly.

“I think to be honest, when we were playing the first hole, it was a joke,” said Lowry, who bogeyed the first two holes and went on to add a 74 to his opening 68. “You couldn’t see the flight of the ball after 150 yards.

“I called the referee over and said it to him but he said ’No, play on’. Then we were standing at the back of the first green for an hour, standing in the rain, nowhere to sit down, nothing to do.

“From there on it was just a grind for me all day. I’m obviously quite disappointed with the score I shot but it could have been a lot worse. I made a few par saves out there and my head was a bit off all day. The start that we had unsettled me a lot.”

The heavy rain also meant it was quite dark when play began and Lowry added: “It was their call and we had to deal with it. I feel like we should have been taken in. What was wrong with taking us in and starting an hour later?

“It was borderline playable. There was an element about it that if we were being picky, we could have said it was too dark.

“It set the tone for my whole day which was disappointing because, the golf I’m playing at the minute, I really felt I could go out there, shoot a decent score and put myself in a good position in to the weekend.”

Palmer shrugged off the conditions to add a second round of 70 to his opening 65 and finish seven under par, two shots behind clubhouse leader Rory McIlroy.

“It was tough when we teed off,” Palmer said. “I wasn’t quite sure if we should have teed off to be honest with you, you could barely see the fairway. ”It was tough when we got to the first green, we couldn’t get a clean lie with the standing water, so they couldn’t even squeegee it clear enough.

“We were questioning in the fairway why we had to hit into a puddle because the first green was already under water. They said, ’That’s just golf’. We’re like, tell the guy indoors that’s making the decision to come check it out, because it’s wet.

“When we got to the green, sure enough, it was casual water all over the green. They tried squeegeeing it and they couldn’t even do that for my line. We ended up sitting up there for 45 minutes in the (camera) tower with the volunteers taking pictures of all the water.

“Fortunately it lightened up like they said it would and we were able to continue. I was able to hit great shots coming in and birdied the last two holes. It’s nice to go relax this afternoon sitting at seven under going into the weekend.”

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Honda Play-off Loss for McIlroy

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Russell Henley came out on top in a four-way play-off to deprive Rory McIlroy of victory as the Honda Classic.

The pair, playing in the final group, both finished eight under alongside Ryan Palmer and Scotland's Russell Knox after a remarkable last hour at the Jack Nicklaus-designed PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

McIlroy had earned his place with a stunning approach to the last but faltered around the green when the hole was replayed for the play-off and it was Henley who prevailed with a birdie four.

McIlroy began the day 12-under-par, two clear of his playing partner, but both his birdies on the front nine were immediately cancelled out by bogeys.

He dropped another shot at the ninth to leave himself 11 under and it closed up further on the back nine.

McIlroy dropped another at the 12th and followed a double-bogey at 16 - where he hit out of a bunker into the water - with another bogey to fall out of the lead altogether.

Henley had pitched in at 14 for a second successive birdie but gave both strokes back at the next when he dunked his tee shot in the water.

Palmer bogeyed the last to fall to eight under and was joined by Knox, the Scot's double-bogey six at the 14th proving costly - but the pair were able to watch in hope while keeping loose for a possible play-off.

At the 18th, though, McIlroy produced a moment of magic to set up the chance of a fairytale winning eagle.

The 24-year-old's second shot carried the water and bunker in front of the green and stopped almost dead, 20 feet from the pin.

Henley responded by duffing his pitch on, leaving himself a 60-foot birdie putt which he lagged to within five.

McIlroy's eagle putt trickled just by on the right and after he tapped in, Henley also holed out to make the play-off and he kept his nerve to make birdie while his rivals fell away.

McIlroy said afterwards  “I didn't play well enough to deserve to win today. It's very disappointing. It was a perfect opportunity to win. No one was really coming at me.

“There’s a few positives to take, but obviously it’s going to be hard to get over because I had a great chance to win my first tournament of the season and I didn’t.

“It’s tough to take at the minute but I’ll sleep it off tonight and get back at it.”

Earlier, world number one Tiger Woods withdrew after 12 holes of his final round due to back pain.

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McIlroy Bounces Back at Barclays

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Rory McIlroy's opening round of level par 71 at the FedEx Cup play-offs was every bit as explosive, unpredictable and sometimes spectacular as the electrical storms which twice interrupted play at The Barclays in Jersey City.

Showing the same fighting spirit which propelled him into the top-10 at the recent US PGA, McIlroy bounced straight back from ugly double-bogey sixes with a birdie and then an astonishing eagle at Liberty National.

Graeme McDowell joined the Holywood star on the same score, after a less erratic round. The two compatriots sat seven shots behind the early club house lead of Kevin Stadler, who was one ahead of Ryan Palmer and Henrik Stenson. Though wayward from tee to green, Tiger Woods scrambled brilliantly for a bogey-free 67.

All season, McIlroy has been blighted by grievous errors on the golf course, but the difference at Oak Hill, and again yesterday, was his blunt refusal to let them get him down. However, yet a third double-bogey when he hit his tee shot out of bounds at the ninth, his final hole, cast a dark pall over his day's work.

One under after holing from five feet for birdie at the par-five 13th, McIlroy made a hash of 15, where he pulled his tee shot left into the waste area, found the front left bunker in two and then hit his next through the green on the way to an ugly six.

Still, he rebounded with a sweet birdie six at 16.

McIlroy responded to his double-bogey at five, where he hit his approach into water tight to the left of the green, by holing from 29 feet for a fabulous eagle at the long sixth.

Those storms led to two long stoppages as the early starters, including McIlroy, Woods and McDowell played their first round.

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