Masterful timing for Rory to hit top form
JuST about the only thing missing in terms of exciting storylines in the build-up to the Masters has been the glorious sight of Rory McIlroy in full flow.
Over the first 36 holes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, the Northern Irishman did enough to suggest we shouldn’t give up on the possibility just yet.
Certainly, his golf thus far in his final strokeplay start before Augusta in less than three weeks — he will also compete in the WGC-Match Play in Austin next week — has been a massive upgrade on the erratic, uncertain play we saw over the previous month in America.
This was more like the McIlroy who started the season with backto-back, top-three finishes in successive Middle East events.
Most encouraging of all has been the startling improvement in his putting, so often his Achilles heel. After signing for a second-round 70 for a five-under-par halfway total of 139, McIlroy was perched in the top five in strokes gained in putting.
If the 28-year-old finishes in the top five at Augusta in that category, there would be every chance his big mate Sergio Garcia would be helping him into a green jacket to complete the career Grand Slam.
For that to happen, however, he would also have to cut out the sort of brainless course management decisions that cost him a shot on his penultimate hole.
McIlroy was flying after three birdies in a row but caught a horrendous lie following a poor tee shot. The situation cried out for laying up short of the water that guards the green but he went for it and duly paid the price.
On American television, the oncourse commentator, former PGA Tour player Robert Damron, made an interesting observation even before McIlroy found the water.
‘This is not a shot he should take on but it’s the sort of move you make when you don’t trust your wedge game, and don’t think you can get up and down for par,’ he said.
As it happened, after taking a penalty drop, McIlroy did get up and down for what should have been a regulation figure rather than an aggravating bogey. But Damron’s point was brought into sharp focus on the next hole when McIlroy missed the green with a wedge, before rescuing par with a fine bunker shot and a 4ft putt.
Still, if he can cut out the silly errors, the rest of his game appears good enough to mount a challenge this weekend, or at least muster a morale-boosting top-five finish.
The joint halfway leaders after the morning wave were young American Bryson DeChambeau and Swede Henrik Stenson, who followed up his first round 64 with a 69 for 11 under. Playing partner Tommy Fleetwood, meanwhile, slipped to a 76 to lie a distant 12 shots behind.
As for Tiger Woods, who opened with a 68, it was more of a struggle as he scrambled to a 72.