McIlroy Rors Back in Jersey

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Rory McIlroy fought back from a rusty start with a second-round 65 to ease into contention in the first of the four PGA Tour play-off events.

The world number one surged to three under to trail Adam Scott and Cameron Tringale by five shots in New Jersey.

McIlroy, who opened with a 74 in The Barclays event in the aftermath of his US PGA win, hit six birdies to reignite his bid for a fourth straight win.

European Ryder Cup hopefuls Ian Poulter and Luke Donald both missed the cut.

The pair are outside the top-nine automatic qualifying spots and are likely to have to rely on a captain's wildcard to make the side for September's clash against the USA at Gleneagles.

Eight-time Cup veteran Lee Westwood is another in danger of missing out but rounds of 70 and 73 meant he made the weekend at one over.

Also one over was five-time major champion Phil Mickelson, the US PGA runner-up, whose 72 included a shot hit out of a hospitality dining area.

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, who occupies the final Ryder Cup qualifying spot, shot 68 to end four under alongside England's Justin Rose with countryman Paul Casey five under.

McIlroy, 25, took some time out to enjoy the fruits of his fourth major win earlier this month but said a range session after Thursday's opening round ironed out his swing.

"The work I did on the range really helped, got back in the rhythm and the flow of things," said McIlroy, who also won the Open in July followed by the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. "I knew my game was there. I just needed to think more about the chances I was giving myself."

American trio Kevin Chappell, Brendon Todd and Jim Furyk were tied third on seven under at Paramus with FedEx Cup champion Henrik Stenson, Ernie Els, Scotland's Russell Knox, Bo Van Pelt, Jason Day and Kevin Na one stroke further adrift.

European Ryder Cup qualifying ends after next week's Italian Open before captain Paul McGinley names three wildcards on 2 September.

Automatic selection for the USA is settled with captain Tom Watson making his three wildcard picks on 3 September.

The Ryder Cup takes place at Gleneagles, Scotland, from 26-28 September.

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McGee in Czech Chase

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Ruaidhri McGee proved best of the Irish as he registered an opening two-under-par 70 to trail leader Jamie Donaldson by four shots at the Czech Masters.

The Rosapenna man opened with a bogey and carded a double bogey at the 14th at the Albatross Golf Resort. There were five birdies in between – at holes two, three, eight, nine and 12 – and McGee came home in 70 for a share of 22nd after the first round.

The Donegal golfer’s best finish on tour thus far is the tied 25th he recorded at the Lyoness Open in Austria in June. He was tied for 103rd in the Irish Open two weeks later and shared 98th in the Madeira Island Open in May.

Simon Thornton is alongside him on two under, while Kevin Phelan, Gareth Maybinand Peter Lawrie are level par, one ahead of Damien McGrane and four ahead of David Higgins. Automatic places Donaldson moved a step closer to making the European Ryder Cup team with a sparkling 66. The Welshman currently holds the eighth of nine automatic places for the team in Gleneagles due to his position on the world points list but a combined winning haul of just under €30,000 in Prague and in Italy next week would see him qualify via the European list.

And a six-under par round gave the 38-year-old a one-shot lead in a tournament which carries a €166,660 first prize. Donaldson may not have to secure the necessary money this week and next but qualification from the European list would be a relief with Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald, Ian Poulter and Stephen Gallacher also battling it out for the final place in the world standings.

McDowell, Donald and Poulter are all playing in the Barclays in New Jersey this week but Gallacher is also present in eastern Europe and fired a two-under par 70 playing alongside Donaldson.

Both men opened with a birdie but Donaldson dropped a shot on the third before further birdies at the fourth, eighth and ninth saw him reach the turn in 33.

Another shot was dropped on 11 but birdies at 12, 14, 17 and 18 saw him come home in the same score and secure a one-shot lead over Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg.

Gallacher had nine pars from two to 10 before a dropped shot on 11 had him level for the day. But two further birdies followed on 12 and 17 moved the Scot into red figures. There was a 10-way tie for third place which included Paul Waring, Kenneth Ferrie, Danny Willett, Lee Slattery, Soren Kjeldsen and Wales’ Bradley Dredge.

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Rory Not Banking on Barclays

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Rory McIlroy’s bid for a fourth tournament win in a row got off to a rather rocky start as he carded an opening round of 74 at The Barclays in New Jersey.

The world number one came into the first leg of the four-tournament FedEx Cup playoffs looking to extend his amazing run that has seen him triumph at the Open, the US PGA Championship and also the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

However the Northern Irishman has some work to do if he is to continue his hot streak after having to sign for a three-over score on Thursday at the Ridgewood Country Club.

McIlroy went out in 40 shots, despite coming close to recording a birdie at the 10th – his first hole of the day, as he registered a double-bogey on the 12th and followed that with bogeys on the 13th and 18th. As he reached the turn, he found himself last of all players on the course at the time.

A birdie at the fifth offered hope but the 25-year-old gave that shot back on the eighth, missing a four-foot attempt for par. He did at least finish with a flourish, carding a three at the par-four ninth.

Still, McIlroy finds himself well adrift of early pacesetters Cameron Tringale, Hunter Mahan and Charles Howell II, the trio of Americans all managing rounds of 66 to sit on five under.

Home favourites Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson are on three under, one ahead of Australian Adam Scott.

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Lefty Reckons Rory's Favourite

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Rory McIlroy will be difficult to beat heading into the FedExCup play-offs in New Jersey claims Phil Mickelson.

The PGA Tour begins its four-tournament race to the finish-line with The Barclays at Ridgewood Country Club tomorrow, and all eyes will be on world number one McIlroy as he goes for a fourth win in a row after victories at the British Open Championship, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the US PGA Championship.

The Northern Irishman leads the FedEx Cup rankings and has two play-off victories to his name from 2012 but has yet to claim the big prize and the $10million cheque that comes with it.

The top 125 players in the standings have qualified for The Barclays, with the field being trimmed to 100 for the Deutsche Bank Championship, 70 for the BMW Championship and then 30 for the Tour Championship.

Mickelson has qualified for every Tour Championship since the FedEx Cup began in 2007, a feat matched only by Steve Stricker, who will not play until December due to hip and back injuries, and Hunter Mahan.

The Californian, who also has two play-off wins under his belt, is currently 45th in the rankings but that can change very quickly with a win and, following a second-placed finish behind McIlroy at Valhalla, Mickelson is brimming with confidence.

“The PGA was a big week for me because it was the first time this year my game was back. It gave me an excitement and energy heading into the FedExCup and Barclays here that my game is back and I’m ready to compete and get back into contention.

“It was so fun being up there again, and the nerves and the excitement of it all, it got me excited.”

However, he also knows that to get to the top of the leaderboard he must overcome McIlroy, whose form in the last few weeks he admits has been “incredible”.

“His level of play this last month has been exceptional,” he said “Now, from what I’ve seen over the years with Tiger (Woods), from 2000, if you want to compare it to that, well, he’s got a ways to go.

“But to win the British and the PGA and throw a World Golf Championships in the middle under anybody’s circumstances, that is just a remarkable month of golf and some of the best that I’ve seen.

“You can probably go back and compare it to some of the Tiger stuff. He’s done that over decades. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Rory did it too. You just never know. He’s that good. He can do it.”

While McIlroy may be the player in form at the minute, the man second in the standings, Jimmy Walker, is without a victory in six months after a blistering start to the season.

Walker had won the Frys. com Open, the Sony Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am by February, and six further top-10s saw him hold the top spot for most of the season.

The 35-year-old finished seventh at Valhalla, his third top-10 finish in a major this year, and he is confident the next win is not far away.

I feel like I’ve played well,“ said Walker. “Yeah, obviously I would have liked to have won again, but before this year it had taken 180 times before I had one and you win three.

“But I’ve continued to play well. I’ve got a ton of top-10s. I’ve played good in the big tournaments and I’m looking to win again.

“It’s close. It’s right there. It’s just a matter of putting four weeks together but I’ve been there.”

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McIlroy looks For More Majors

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Rory McIlroy is on a roll and he has no intention of stopping as he admits he wants to win a fifth major "as soon as possible".

McIlroy tees up again in the The Barclays tournament at The Ridgewood Country Club on Thursday and the Irishman, high in confidence, admits he has learned so much from Tiger Woods over the years.

“Once you get on a roll and you start to get confidence, I think that’s all it really was,” said McIlroy.

“I’ve played well all year, I really have. It seemed like the start of the year it was just a bad nine-hole stretch that would prevent me from winning. I finished eighth at the Masters and it felt like it could’ve been so much better.

“It’s been a good year overall since the start of the year but it just seems like this summer I got on a roll and got confident. I just tried to keep it going. I’ve done that for the past few weeks and there’s still some big tournaments coming up and I want to keep it going. I won three tournaments in a row and I’ll try to make it four this week.”

Jack Nichlaus recently said that McIlroy is an “unbelievable talent” and could go on to win 15-20 majors. High praise indeed and McIlroy is taking it all in his stride.

“It’s inevitable that there’s going to be these comparisons. It’s hard to avoid and I’ve seen what Jack Nicklaus has said,” McIlroy said.

“It’s a compliment. It’s very flattering that Jack thinks so highly of my golf game but saying that, I’ve got four majors right now and I want to try to get my fifth as soon as possible.

“And then when I do that I’ll try to get my sixth. I don’t have any sort of number in my head because it places unfair expectations on you. I just don't want to do that to myself. Four is a great number where I’m at in my career at 25 years of age.

“If I can get to five soon then that’s great and if it takes me a little while then so be it. I’m really happy with where I’m at and it’s flattering all these compliments but at the same time I have to play some good golf just to get that fifth.”

Both ambassadors for Nike, McIlroy and Woods have become good friends and this year’s double major winner was full of praise for the man he is chasing down. 

“I never go and seek out advice from him (Woods),” McIlroy said.

“But just observing him and seeing how he's handled (things), especially the success that he's had and being able to keep it going.

“The dominance that he's had and the work that he’s put in. I find that really impressive because I've only had a little taste of it over the past few weeks and he's done that so much throughout his career.

“That's what I find so impressive about him. If I was to seek out any advice it would be how to keep that going.

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