McIlroy delighted to surge into title frame
RORY McIlroy produced a blistering finish on day two of the Omega European Masters to sit one shot off the lead heading into the weekend at Crans-surSierre Golf Club.
Gavin Green posted a 64 from the very first group of the day to set the target at 11 under and while nobody could catch him, McIlroy — who won the $15m (£12.2m) FedEx Cup last week — whipped the huge crowds in Crans Montana into a frenzy as he picked up five shots in his last five holes in a 63.
Tommy Fleetwood was also in the group at 10 under alongside McIlroy, Australian Wade Ormsby, Austrian Matthias Schwab and Argentina’s Andres Romero — who posted the lowest round of the week so far with a 61.
Italian Lorenzo Gagli and Japan’s Hideto Tanihara were at eight under, a shot clear of 55-year-old 2010 champion Miguel Angel Jimenez, his fellow Spaniard Adri Arnaus and another Italian in Renato Paratore.
A 12 footer at the second brought a first birdie of the day for Ulsterman McIlroy and while he gave the shot straight back, he got up and down for birdies at the driveable par-four sixth and seventh and made another gain from 15 feet on the eighth.
He sandwiched a birdie from 12 feet at the 11th with bogeys on the ninth and 12th but really came to life on the back-to-back par-five 14th and 15th. A huge drive on the 14th set up a twoputt birdie and he bombed another and put his second at the next to 16 feet for an eagle. A tee shot to four feet on the par-three next followed and when he put an approach at the 17th to six feet, he was into double figures.
“Going out eight shots off the lead, you know there are scores out there but you don’t want to push too hard,” he said. “Getting myself much closer to the lead going into the weekend was nice.
“I’m excited to give myself another chance to win. I really wanted to play well.
“I’ve got two weeks off coming up, hopefully two more good days of golf left in me, give myself a chance to win. I would love to add this title to the list.”