GMAC Fires 67 at Sea Island

Graeme McDowell made a fine start at The RSM Classic at Sea Island in Georgia on Thursday.

Fresh from his playoff victory at the OHLClassic in Mexico last Monday, McDowell carded a three-under 67 on the Seaside Course, one of two layouts being used over the opening two rounds of the €5.3 million event.

McDowell started where he left off at Mayakoba, rolling in birdies putts from eight and five feet to go to two under early in his round.

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He followed that with four straight pars before pitching to three feet at the par-five seventh to make his third birdie of the day.

McDowell’s round hit a speed bump around the turn, with back to back bogeys dropping him back to one under par.

His putter had been superb in sealing his third PGA Tour victory in Mexico, but it went cold when he failed with par putts from 19 feet and 11 feet on the ninth and 10th.

McDowell steadied the ship with a run of four pars before making a birdie on the par-five 15th after he made the green in two.

Further chances presented themselves on the closing holes, but McDowell’s putter let him down, pushing a birdie chance to the right after a stunning iron to five feet on the par-three 17th.

He would leave the course on a high note though, rattling home a final birdie from all of 25 feet on the 18th.

McDowell will play the Plantation Course in his second round, the par-five 72 layout offering more scoring chances, with four par-fives.

American Kevin Kisner took the clubhouse lead in the tournament after he carded an eagle and five birdies on the Plantation Course to make it to seven under, one shot clear of the field.

A total of eight players made it to six under, with American duo Jeff Overton and Tom Hoge joined by Canada’s David Hearn in making 64s on the Seaside Course.

The American quarter of Jim Herman, Kyle Stanley Kevin Chappell and Scott Stallings were joined by South Korea’s Si Woo Kim in carding rounds of 66 at the Plantation Course.

American Ryder Cup captain Davis Love is the host of the event and he carded a level-par 70 on the Seaside Course. Love was playing alongside his son Dru, the amateur player also carding a 70.

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Lawrie Facing Q School Trip

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Peter Lawrie missed the cut after shooting a second round 72 at the Portugal Masters and now set to lose his European Tour card and his automatic playing rights for next season.

Lawrie now needs a sponsor’s invitation to next week’s Hong Kong Open and needs to win enough money to move himself into the top 110 places in the Race to Dubai to avoid the dreaded trip to Q-School in Spain next month.

Mount Juliet’s Kevin Phelan will need a good weekend performance to avoid the same fate.

Phelan, who came through Q-School to earn his card in 2013, made the cut on the mark (one under par) but will need to go low over the weekend to earn enough prize money to move from 126th into the top 10. Even the weather looks to be against the 24-year-old however – heavy rain forecast over the weekend has put into doubt whether there will even be the full 72 holes played. If the tournament was shortened to, say, 54 holes, then the prize money would be reduced.

Paul Dunne and Padraig Harrington will join Phelan over the weekend with both players sitting 12 shots off the lead on two under par.

It is Dunne’s third and last sponsor’s invite of the season as he looks to add to the €80,000 he’s won already before heading to Spain next month to compete for the 25 tour cards on offer.

Darren Clarke and Michael Hoey both finished a long way off the cut-mark.

Damien McGrane still leads the Irish charge, despite a one over par 73 today. The Meath golfer sits on three under par, 11 shots behind tournament leader Andy Sullivan.

Severe storms with 50mph-plus winds are predicted for late Saturday morning and organisers have taken the rare decision to hold a shotgun start — groups teeing off on all 18 holes from 8am — in an attempt to get day three completed.

Sullivan, who began the day tied with Nicolas Colsaerts on seven under, is currently sitting pretty at the top of the leaderboard after a second successive 64 moved him to 14 under and three shots clear of Belgian Thomas Pieters, who carded a 66 and is also looking for his third win of the season.

However, there is plenty of scope for that to change if the forecast at Oceanico Victoria Golf Club turns out to be accurate.

“Due to the extremely poor weather forecast for the next two days it has been decided that the best chance of completing the third round is to schedule a shotgun start from 8am on Saturday,” said a statement from the European Tour.

“All parties have agreed to this in the best interests of the tournament.”

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Horschel Leads and Rory Looms

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Rory McIlroy's second-round 65 left him two behind halfway leader Billy Horschel at the Tour Championship.

The World No 1 McIlroy overcame a bizarre incident when his tee shot at the 14th bounced into a spectator's pocket and went on to produce a birdie-birdie finish on a steamy day at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

The Northern Irishman's five-under effort was the best of the day and moved him through the field into a share of second place alongside Australia's Jason Day (67) and American Chris Kirk (68) at six-under overall.

Horschel, who won last week's BMW Championship, remains out in front at eight under after a second straight round of 66.

Along with Horschel, Kirk, Bubba Watson and Hunter Mahan, McIlroy knows victory on Sunday would also secure the overall FedEx Cup title - and with it a bonus of $10 million.

And with Mahan languishing 14 shots off the lead and Watson eight adrift, the battle for the richest prize in golf looks to be down to three players.

McIlroy insists the title means more to him than the money, the 25-year-old keen to end a brilliant season on a high note after four victories, including two major titles in the Open and US PGA Championship.

The four-time major winner holed from 11 feet for his first birdie of the day on the second but bogeyed the fourth for the second day in succession after his drive plugged in the face of a fairway bunker.

McIlroy had been frustrated by taking one step forward and one step back on Thursday, but this time took two steps forward with birdies from close range on the sixth and seventh, although another birdie chance did go begging on the par-five ninth.

He never threatened to hole birdie putts on the 10th or 11th, but very nearly holed his approach to the 12th, his ball clattering into the pin.

Fortunately for McIlroy it finished just eight feet away and he holed the putt, before his round took a bizarre turn on the 14th, where his wayward drive clipped a tree and somehow dropped straight into a spectator's shorts pocket.

"I got really lucky," McIlroy told Sky Sports. "It ricocheted off a tree and went straight into his pocket somehow. That ball could have went anywhere and luckily I was able to take a drop and hit it on the green and make par.

"The guy probably deserved more than just the handshake that I gave him."

For the second day running McIlroy birdied the 17th and then put the icing on the cake by holing from 25 feet on the last, adding: "To finish like that with two birdies puts me in a great position going into the weekend."

Justin Rose carded five birdies and one bogey in a round of 66 to move to two under par overall, one ahead of Ryder Cup team-mate Sergio Garcia, who bogeyed the last for a 71.

Germany's Martin Kaymer complained of fatigue in his "marathon" effort of playing six tournaments in the last seven weeks, the US Open champion recording a 69 to lie two over par.

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