McIlroy survives triple-bogey blues as Lowry snaps, then rebounds
Ian Poulter of England putts on the 18th green during the first round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park on August 06, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/PGA of America via Getty Images
TPC Harding Park will try the patience and concentration of the very best and it got the better of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry in the second round of the PGA Championship.
A triple bogey seven at the 12th hole took the wind out of McIlroy’s sails, though he still managed to regroup and card a 69 that left him seven off the lead and earned praise for refusing to take advantage of a clearly favourable drop after a TV reporter had walked on his ball on the third hole.
If it was tough for McIlroy, it was more trying for Lowry, who made a bright start with two birdies in his first five holes, then bogeyed five in a forgettable six-hole stretch from the eighth in the middle of his round.
Frustrated by a few mistakes on the greens and frequent visits to the relentless rough, TV cameras captured the Open champion snapping an iron over his knee after his escape from rough at the 13th appeared to hit a tree.
Sitting on the cut line with five holes to play, Lowry deserves credit for somehow managing to clear the red mist and play those holes in one-over for a 72 that leaves him eight shots off the pace on level par.
As for McIlroy, strangely passive all week, he birdied the first but then looked set for another trying day when he blocked his tee shot well right at the short third and did the same with a drive at the fifth and made two bogeys.
The bogey at the third was interesting as he laudably passed on the chance to bend the spirit of the rules.
Jane Crafter, a former LPGA great working for ESPN’s Featured Group coverage, walked on his ball when attempting to find it, so deep is the rough right of the 188-yard, par-three third.
Referee Mark Dusbabek told McIlroy that he was entitled to replace the ball under rule 14-2, which addresses a ball at rest moved by an outside agency.
According to GeoffShackelford.com Dusbabek told McIlroy he could place it to how he thought it might have sat before the accidental embedding.
“No one really knew what the lie was, but if everyone is going around looking for it, it obviously wasn't too good,” McIlroy said after the round. “So I placed it, I was like, that just doesn't look right to me. So I just placed it down a little bit.”
Not giving himself an advantage all but ruled out saving par after short-siding himself with the tee shot.
“It was a better lie than he probably would have had since I couldn’t see it,” Crafter said. “But he certainly did not give himself much to work with.”
After a second round 69 that included six birdies and a triple bogey, McIlroy explained his thinking.
“You know, at the end of the day, golf is a game of integrity and I never try to get away with anything out there. I'd rather be on the wrong end of the rules rather than on the right end because as golfers, that's just what we believe. Yeah, I would have felt pretty wrong if I had of taken a lie that was maybe a little better than what it was previously.
However, it takes little to light the McIlroy flame and buoyed by a birdie at the seventh, where he drove to the edge of the green, he made a brilliant two from 25 feet at the very difficult, 226-yard eighth, then picked up another shot at the even more difficult, 520-yard par-four ninth.
Despite finding deep rough off the tee, he managed to slash his ball out and watched it run up to four feet below the hole.
When he birdied the par-five 10th, he was only five shots off the lead. But he missed the 12th green well left after a poor drive, then criminally took four to get down from 35 feet after his third ran into a chipping area just over the green.
His chip was poor and left him seven feet for bogey. But the admitted that to then three-putt from there was nothing short of criminal.
“That seven just sort of stopped me in my tracks a bit. From there, when you're 3-under par, especially with the way the leaderboard is looking, you're thinking, okay, get another couple and you're right into this tournament going into the weekend,” he said. “And all of a sudden you make triple and you're like, I just need to be here for the weekend.
“It went from thinking I'm right on the cusp of getting into contention to just making the cut. I was happy how I responded after that 7 and made a birdie coming in and played pretty solid, and that's all I could really ask of myself after that.
“I guess taking four from over the back of that green, that's unacceptable, really, and that was really the cause of the seven. But out of position off the tee. I've missed that fairway the last two days in a row and I've paid for it. I've played it in four-over par.”
He enjoyed playing with Woods without the accompanying circus but it was still a tough day given the difficulty of the course.
“Once Tiger and I got our tee shots off 18, I just gave him a look like, phew, glad that's almost done,” he said. “It was tough out there. We all didn't really have our best. We were grinding just to be here for the weekend.
“But thankfully all three of us made it to the weekend and we all have an opportunity to go out tomorrow and post a low one and get ourselves back in the tournament.”
McIlroy is tied for 31st with the likes of Jon Rahm and Gary Woodland but has a host of big names ahead of him.
The six man group chasing Haotong Li features three majors winners in Koepka, who had three on-course physio sessions to free up his hip but still managed to birdie the 18th for a 68.
“I feel very comfortable with an iron in my hand,” Koepka said. “With a driver I feel very comfortable. I feel like I'm hitting it really solid. I just need to make a few more putts.”
As for Woods, it was putting that cost him yesterday.
“They were firm coming into the greens, but they weren't putting as fast as they looked, and then as the day wore on, they got a little more fuzzy and got even slower, “ Woods said. “And I struggled even a little bit more hitting the putts hard enough.”
Looking at the leaderboard, Lorenzo Vera is second for strokes gained putting, Haotong Li fifth, Justin Rose ninth and Tommy Fleetwood 11th.
