MCILROY MELTDOWN
Northern Irish star struggles to putt from six feet at Pebble Beach
RORY McIlroy four-putted from six feet while Dustin Johnson avoided any similar mishaps to move into the halfway lead at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California on Friday.
Johnson birdied his first three holes to set a strong base for a seven-under-par 64 second round on the Monterey Peninsula course, one of three used for the event.
Fellow American Beau Hossler, a PGA Tour rookie, had a bogey-free 67 at Spyglass Hill, joining Johnson at 12-under, though Johnson has a lower total, 131 against Hossler’s 132.
Monterey Peninsula is a par-71, while Spyglass and the host Pebble Beach courses are par-72 layouts.
Fellow Americans Troy Merritt and Julian Suri are at 10-under, while Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson and Australia’s Jason Day are among a formidable group at nineunder.
McIlroy, meanwhile, has some work ahead to make the 54-hole cut after a 74 at Monterey that included a staggering double-bogey at the par-four fifth.
After almost driving the green, the Northern Irishman used his putter from the fringe and stroked the ball to within six feet of the cup, from where he took four putts and probably ended his hopes in the tournament in a matter of seconds.
He is at one-under heading to his third round at Pebble.
Johnson, who won the opening event of the year at Kapalua in Hawaii on a course that suited his long-hitting game, said his form is close to where it was at this stage last year, when he was about to embark on a stretch of three successive victories.
“I don’t know if it’s quite as good as it was during that stretch,” he said.
“That was probably some of the best golf I’ve played in my career, but parts of the game are just as good.”
WorldNo 2 Rahm, playing for the fourth consecutive week, used a four-iron approach shot in the par-five sixth to set up a two-putt birdie and get his round at Pebble Beach going.