It would seem Rory McIlroy is desperately in need of roadside service after two rounds of the WGC – Cadillac Championship in Miami
Golf’s newest and second youngest-ever World No. 1 three-putted the final green that left McIlroy trailing 10 strokes behind American Ryder Cup rival, Bubba Watson heading to the final two days of the $US 8.5m event.
Watson tamed the Blue Monster with an eagle and nine birdies in a blistering 10-under par 62 to head the event by one stroke from England’s Justin Rose who walked off the Miami course with a 64.
Eoin Clarke's superb shot of Rory McIlroy teeing off on day two of the WGC - Cadillac Championship. (Photo - Eoin Clarke/www.golffile.ie)
Australia’s Adam Scott is next best on 10-under par and still well placed to capture a second WGC title after winning last August’s WGC – Bridgestone Invitational
However for a second day running most interest centred on the grouping of the world’s top three ranked golfers- McIlroy, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood.
Donald recorded a slim points advantage as the trio go their seperate ways over the weekend rounds in recording a 68 to end the day in a share of 10th place on six under.
McIlroy is back in tie for 28th position at two under par in signing for scores of 73 and 69 while Westwood has now carded rounds of 76 and 67 for a share of 34th position at one under par.
McIlroy arrived in Miami having dethroned Donald as the game’s top golfer in capturing last week’s PGA Tour Honda Classic and while Donald congratulated the young Ulsterman he also suggested to McIlroy ‘to enjoy the view’.
However McIlroy’s reign could be very short-lived after another poor driving display when he managed just 60% of the fairways in regulation and then when on the greens McIlroy recorded a total of 31 putts and one fewer than day one.
“I felt okay, I couldn’t get the speed of the greens, that was the real problem,” said McIlroy.
“I played the par 5s well and my other couple of birdies were tap‑ins. So I just didn’t hole anything which wasn’t great. I got off to a good start and couldn’t quite keep it going, but felt like I played some good shots out there. Just didn’t hole many putts.
“There was a 62 out there obviously. But yeah, especially after the start, I felt I could have‑‑ yeah, something in the low 60s definitely was out there. Bubba shot that and there was a couple 64s out there as well.
“Also it was still pretty windy out there. It’s not like it was flat calm. But yeah, the guys seemed to go very low here for some reason, and I’ll need to go very low for the weekend to try and post a good finish”.
McIlroy’s also now recorded eight birdies and just as many bogeys and that’s already three more bogeys than the 22-year old recorded over the four days in winning at Palm Beach Gardens.
