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PONTE VEDRA BEACH — Rory McIlroy's statistics belied his 67 in the opening round of The Players Championship.
So after missing 10 of 14 fairways Thursday, he hit the range at TPC Sawgrass as the sun was starting to set, and went to work with his driver.
"I was just getting a little underneath it, just getting a little too much sort of side bend coming down, sort of in transition," McIlroy explained Friday. "So just trying to keep my right side a little higher and just try to cover it a little bit more was really the thought."
That technicality translated into an improvement off the tee for the Jupiter resident, who missed just three fairways in his second round.
But not as much to his scoring.
More: Why some of PGA Tour's best walked away from Round 1 of The Players grumbling | D'Angelo
Still, a 68 that included a bogey on his final hole of the day, the par-5 No. 9, has McIlroy squarely in the chase for his second Players Championship victory at 9-under.
McIlroy spent much of Friday at the top of the leaderboard, especially after 11 holes when he was 6-under for the round. But he cooled and lost two shots coming in having to scramble out of two bunkers on No. 6, and on No. 9, where he was forced to chip out of the rough on his third shot.
"Got it in play much better (than Thursday) and then from there was able to give myself some opportunities and obviously make some birdies early," he said. "Couldn't quite continue that on to the back nine, but it was much better off the tee."
Few have the experience of playing the Stadium Course as McIlroy and certainly not three of the players directly ahead of him on the leaderboard. Min Woo Lee, Akshay Bhatia and J.J. Spaun have combined for three PGA Tour wins, 24 fewer than McIlroy.
That, coupled with the sketchy weekend weather forecast that is calling for winds of around 20 mph and gusts up to 30, and rain moving in Sunday afternoon, has McIlroy feeling good about his chances.
"I'm looking forward to it," McIlroy said. "I think it's going to be really important to try to flight your ball and keep it under the tree line. I think once it gets above the tree line here it can start to really get hit by it.
"This course is challenging enough, but with a wind like that, yeah, I'm excited for that challenge."
Few golfers, if any, have been as consistent as the 35-year-old McIlroy the past 15 years. Since January 2011, McIlroy has been in the top 10 of the world ranking for all but 33 weeks.
That's out of 775.
When McIlroy reached No. 1 in the world for the first time after winning the 2012 Honda (now the Cognizant) Classic, current No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was 15 years old.
When McIlroy first became No. 1 he was competing with guys like Luke Donald and Lee Westwood for that top spot. And, of course, Tiger Woods.
Three guys in their late 40s or early 50s.
Now, he, Scheffler and Xander Schauffele have occupied the top three spots for the past year.
"It's nice that the common denominator sometimes is me, that I've been able to stay there," he said. "I'm super proud of that."
McIlroy, currently No. 2, played the first two rounds of The Players with Scheffler and No. 3 Schauffele, a grouping that one tournament spotter called "Tiger-esque" when it came to the gallery.
Scheffler, who shot a 70 Friday and is 5-under for the tournament, is in awe of McIlroy's consistency.
"Not only week-to-week but year after year," Scheffler said. "You got a guy that's played really well for about 15 years … it's very impressive, not only his week-to-week but his longevity year after year."
Scheffler pointed to McIlroy's 27 career wins, 14 more than Scheffler.
And we can wondering if No. 28 is coming this weekend.
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
The Players Championship
Through Sunday, TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach
TV: Saturday, 2 p.m. NBC; Sunday, 1 p.m. NBC
Defending champ: Scottie Scheffler
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Players Championship: Rory McIlroy in good spot for 28th PGA Tour win
Continue reading...
So after missing 10 of 14 fairways Thursday, he hit the range at TPC Sawgrass as the sun was starting to set, and went to work with his driver.
"I was just getting a little underneath it, just getting a little too much sort of side bend coming down, sort of in transition," McIlroy explained Friday. "So just trying to keep my right side a little higher and just try to cover it a little bit more was really the thought."
That technicality translated into an improvement off the tee for the Jupiter resident, who missed just three fairways in his second round.
But not as much to his scoring.
More: Why some of PGA Tour's best walked away from Round 1 of The Players grumbling | D'Angelo
Still, a 68 that included a bogey on his final hole of the day, the par-5 No. 9, has McIlroy squarely in the chase for his second Players Championship victory at 9-under.
Bring on wind and challenging conditions, McIlroy says
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McIlroy spent much of Friday at the top of the leaderboard, especially after 11 holes when he was 6-under for the round. But he cooled and lost two shots coming in having to scramble out of two bunkers on No. 6, and on No. 9, where he was forced to chip out of the rough on his third shot.
"Got it in play much better (than Thursday) and then from there was able to give myself some opportunities and obviously make some birdies early," he said. "Couldn't quite continue that on to the back nine, but it was much better off the tee."
Few have the experience of playing the Stadium Course as McIlroy and certainly not three of the players directly ahead of him on the leaderboard. Min Woo Lee, Akshay Bhatia and J.J. Spaun have combined for three PGA Tour wins, 24 fewer than McIlroy.
That, coupled with the sketchy weekend weather forecast that is calling for winds of around 20 mph and gusts up to 30, and rain moving in Sunday afternoon, has McIlroy feeling good about his chances.
"I'm looking forward to it," McIlroy said. "I think it's going to be really important to try to flight your ball and keep it under the tree line. I think once it gets above the tree line here it can start to really get hit by it.
"This course is challenging enough, but with a wind like that, yeah, I'm excited for that challenge."
McIlroy a familiar name at top of world golf ranking
You must be registered for see images
Few golfers, if any, have been as consistent as the 35-year-old McIlroy the past 15 years. Since January 2011, McIlroy has been in the top 10 of the world ranking for all but 33 weeks.
That's out of 775.
When McIlroy reached No. 1 in the world for the first time after winning the 2012 Honda (now the Cognizant) Classic, current No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was 15 years old.
When McIlroy first became No. 1 he was competing with guys like Luke Donald and Lee Westwood for that top spot. And, of course, Tiger Woods.
Three guys in their late 40s or early 50s.
Now, he, Scheffler and Xander Schauffele have occupied the top three spots for the past year.
"It's nice that the common denominator sometimes is me, that I've been able to stay there," he said. "I'm super proud of that."
McIlroy, currently No. 2, played the first two rounds of The Players with Scheffler and No. 3 Schauffele, a grouping that one tournament spotter called "Tiger-esque" when it came to the gallery.
Scheffler, who shot a 70 Friday and is 5-under for the tournament, is in awe of McIlroy's consistency.
"Not only week-to-week but year after year," Scheffler said. "You got a guy that's played really well for about 15 years … it's very impressive, not only his week-to-week but his longevity year after year."
Scheffler pointed to McIlroy's 27 career wins, 14 more than Scheffler.
And we can wondering if No. 28 is coming this weekend.
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
The Players Championship
Through Sunday, TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach
TV: Saturday, 2 p.m. NBC; Sunday, 1 p.m. NBC
Defending champ: Scottie Scheffler
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Players Championship: Rory McIlroy in good spot for 28th PGA Tour win
Continue reading...
