Rory McIlroy takes lead and ready for worst of Scottish Open weather
Rory McIlroy vowed to handle whatever the weather could throw at him after claiming a narrow lead at the halfway stage of the £7m Scottish Open.
McIlroy added a second round of 66 to his opening 64 to reach 10 under par, a shot ahead of his Ryder Cup teammate Tyrrell Hatton and South Korea’s Tom Kim.
It is the fifth time in his PGA Tour career – the event is co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour – that McIlroy has started a tournament with two scores of 66 or better. The world No 3 has a runner’s-up finish and three wins from those previous four occasions, the most recent being his 2014 Open triumph at Royal Liverpool, venue for the final major of the year next week.
“I hit the ball really well tee to green, gave myself a ton of looks [at birdie],”
McIlroy said. “Honestly it felt like four under was probably the worst I could have shot out there.
“But you know, it’s swings and roundabouts. I holed a couple of long ones on Thursday to shoot a good score and then missed a couple today, but overall really pleased with how the last two days have went.”
Saturday’s tee times have been brought forward by several hours due to the forecast for afternoon thunderstorms, with winds gusting up to 40mph predicted for Sunday.
“I don’t really have any expectations,” McIlroy added. “It would be silly of me to try to pick a potential target score to get to. So really just embrace the conditions and just sort of make the best of them.
“I know that I’m playing well enough tee to green to give myself some looks and hang in there, so I’m pretty confident going into the next two days, no matter what the weather throws at us.
“I keep saying that yes, we are all looking forward to next week, but I want to go and win this tournament over the weekend.”
Hatton had earlier surged into contention for a first victory in two and a half years with a 62. Asked if his round was as easy as he made it look, Hatton said: “No, it was stressful at times, as most of my rounds are. But very happy with the chances I gave myself. “
The world No 1, Scottie Scheffler, and three-time major winner Pádraig Harrington lie three shots off the lead after rounds of 65 and 66 respectively, Harrington overcoming wet and windy conditions in the first group out at 7.15am.