It’s water torture for wayward Rory
NO need to ask Rory McIlroy if he’s like a trip to one of the water parks dotted around America’s tourist capital. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the cheesed-off world No 2 is fed up to the back teeth with visits to water features.
The Northern Irishman went into the weekend targeting two 66s to get into contention to win. That all went horribly south as he racked up no fewer than three double bogeys — including three visits to Bay Hill’s water hazards — to run up a bitterly disappointing three-overpar round yesterday.
Just one strokeplay round to go until his tilt at the career grand slam at the Masters next month, therefore, and the Northern Irishman’s game remains mired in inconsistency.
So far this week he has gone 75, 67, 75 and is probably thankful his last tournament before Augusta is his defence of the WGCMatch Play Championship next week, where he will not have a scorecard in his hand.
Starting from the 10th, it all looked promising when he played his first eight holes in two under but right now he seems helpless to avoid the sloppy mistakes.
One more at the 18th led to a double that was followed by two more similarly destructive holes on his inward nine. With three of the world’s top 10 in the final group in the shape of Jason Day, Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose, it was widely expected they would put clear daylight between themselves and the rest. That never really materialised, although Day will be favoured to follow up his five wins last year with a first one this season after establishing a two-shot lead over Stenson and Americans Troy Merritt and Kevin Chappell.
Four Englishmen are in the top 20, with Rose nearest to the lead at four off the pace after a 71.
Paul Casey (72) and Chris Wood (71) are tied 13th and Andy Sullivan (70) tied 18th.