Rory McIlroy took a huge bite of the ‘Blue Monster’ course recording just 23 putts in a sizzling second round 65 on day two of the Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral.
As well, McIlroy one-putted 10 greens while he also holed two putts from off the green to end the round sharing second place at 8-under par with defending champion Dustin Johnson, and with Johnson shooting the best round of the day, an eight under par 64.
“There’s been a lot of good in there this year,” said McIlroy.
“I made the most birdies out of anyone in Duabi. I was up there in birides in Northern Trust and I made more birdies than Rickie Fowler in the Honda Classic and missed the cut so the birdies have been there, but it was just eradicating the bad stuff.
“The putts from inside 10 feet have been missing and I holed those today. That’s the difference between turning 71s and 70s into 65s. I am very excited now to be in the mix and I feel iek it’s a course that suits my style of game.
This 20-footer falls for Rory McIlroy to fire 7-under 65. #QuickHits https://t.co/cJZWv3Bavr
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 4, 2016
“I am very comfortable from tee to green and if I can feel as comfortable on the greens over the weekend then there is no reason why I shouldn’t have a great chance.”
McIlroy arrived at Doral having finished third, sixth and 20th in his first three events of 2016 before a missed cut in the Honda Classic last week prompted him to switch to a “crosshanded” putting method he last used in 2008.
After a birdie on the first was cancelled out by a bogey on the second, McIlroy birdied four holes in a row from the fifth to reach the turn in 32, before saving par from seven and nine feet on the 10th and 11th.
Mickelson, who has not won since claiming his fifth major title in the 2013 Open at Muirfield, had birdied the same four-hole stretch as McIlroy before three-putting the 13th, while Scott had gone to the turn in 33 before picking up a shot on the 12th.
Speaking before the second round, Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley said McIlroy needed to cut out the mental errors in order to turn good performances into victories.
“There were some mental unforced errors at the end of his (first) round, which is disappointing,” McGinley said on Sky Sports. “We’ve seen quite a bit of this from Rory this year.
“He’s averaged over five birdies a round; he’s like a soccer team who’s scoring lots of goals, but he’s letting a lot of goals in. He’s making too many mistakes and that’s why he’s not winning tournaments. We’re seeing great glimpses of fantastic rounds, but not following through with a win. He needs to cut out those errors if he’s going to win.”
McIlroy looked to have eradicated such errors with eight victories in the last two seasons, but McGinley added on Sky Sports 4: “It’s crept back in again.
“His game is to such a high level, he hits so many greens, so many fairways, drives the ball so far… when you play that well you are going to have a lot of putts from 20 and 30 feet and patience is a big word for Rory. He needs to remain patient and now and again that frustration creeps in and manifests itself in bad putting.That’s what we are seeing.
“He’s not weak mentally, he’s won big tournaments, four major championships. But the reason why he hasn’t won this year is that he’s like a football team conceding too many goals. He needs to minimise that, then we’re going to see Rory winning again.”
American Charley Hoffman had set the clubhouse target on six under par, with McIlroy, Bubba Watson, Paul Casey and Danny Willett all on the same score approaching the end of their rounds.
