Mcilroy finds rapid remedy to putting woes
Northern Irishman hits two-under 70 at Bay Hill Woods seven shots off pace after carding 72
Rory Mcilroy’s form could be coming back at exactly the right time. A two-under 70 in the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational left the Northern Irishman six off the lead, but so much of his game is promising to peak with the Masters a little more than a fortnight away.
Henrik Stenson and Bryson Dechambeau lead the way on 11-under, but the majority of the interest continues to focus on Tiger Woods. He shot a 72 yesterday to stand on four-under, but it could easily have been a 76. In his extraordinary comeback, the 42-year-old is quickly, and so impressively, learning to grind again.
There was no need for Mcilroy to switch into survival mode and that was something of a relief. Having missed two of his last four cuts, the very last thing Mcilroy needed was another flop in Florida.
Granted, there are still some concerning errors slipping into his play, as signified by his three sloppy bogeys yesterday. Yet his putting, in particular, is starting to look very sharp and this affords a great deal of hope for Augusta.
“That has been a big key this week,” Mcilroy said. “I think I’ve gained five shots on the field in the strokes-gained stats on the greens in the first two rounds, so that’s a huge plus.”
What a transformation from Tampa Bay last week, where he humbly bowed out after two rounds. Then David Duval declared on the Golf Channel that “putting is ruining Rory’s game”.
“It continues to put pressure on his iron game, and until Rory figures that out and becomes a little better and more consistent on the greens, he’ll be struggling,” the former world No1 added.
Duval obviously did not expect Mcilroy to fix the issue in less than a week and it should be kept in mind that two good rounds hardly constitutes incontrovertible evidence of a complete turnaround. But still, this was extremely encouraging.
“I just sort of messed around the practice green at the weekend,” Mcilroy said. “I found a few feels that I’ve had before. I am really comfortable with it. I didn’t know if it was going to translate right away, but it has been pretty quick. I figured a couple of things out and to bring that on to the course was nice. The same has applied to my iron play, so that’s been pleasing.”
However, Mcilroy was no more than content with his position in the Orlando field. With Stenson and the young American Dechambeau six clear, Mcilroy has his work cut out on five-under to lift his first title in 18 months.
Woods has one more shot to make up on four-under, the same mark as England’s Justin Rose. But Woods is confident his poor round of the week is behind him and he is in the top 20.
There was a miraculous par save when under the lip of a bunker and enough highlights to keep the comeback hype flourishing.