World No. 1 Rory McIlroy kept himself in sight of the leaders thanks to an eagle late in his round on day two of the PGA Tour Championship at the East Lake Club in Atlanta.
McIlroy commenced his second round at three under par and with the Northern Irishman dropped moving to two under par in total on the par 70 layout when he birdied the par three, sixth hole.
Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson played alongside each other on day two of the Tour Championship. (Photo – www.pgatour.com)
But after the double Major Champion bogeyed the 14th he then moved to four under par when he eagled the next to move to three under par for the tournament and be sharing seveth place.”I got off to a shaky start,” said McIlroy.
“I made three really big par saves on the first five holes, made a great up‑and‑down on 1, on 4, and on 5 to keep myself even par for the day. And I got a chance for birdie on 6 and made it. After that, I was just very solid. I made like seven pars in a row, and then I bogeyed 14, eagled 15, and parred my way in.
“So it was pretty solid golf after that, but a bit of a shaky start.”
And McIlroy was reminded he was in a similar situation in the 2009 Race to Dubai concluding Dubai World Championship as he looked to defeat England’s Lee Westwood.
“I was sort of in a similar position in ’09 battling Lee Westwood,” recalled McIlroy.
“I went in with not much of a lead, maybe like a 100,000 Euros up. But he ended up winning the tournament, and I finished third and he won. It was a similar sort of position here.
“There is a little more to play for, but it’s been great. It’s just nice to be a part of those guys, these five guys that sort of control their own destiny.”
Fellow former U.S. Open winner, Jim Furyk shot a six under par 64 to move to the front of the elite 30-player field on seven under par and one clear of England’s Justin Rose (68).
The Americans Bubba Watson (66) and in-form Bo Van Pelt (68) share third place on six under par.
Tiger Woods slipped from a share of the lead on day one in carding a second round three over par 73 to drop back to a tie for 12th spot heading to day three.
