Rory’s right there as he attempts to open 2019 with a victory in Hawaii
Rory McIlroy finished three shots off the halfway lead at the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, after a day that was affected by strong winds in Hawaii.
The 29-year-old carded a second-round 68 to leave him chasing American leader Gary Woodland.
McIlroy had shot a bogey and two birdies before the turn, but the Northern Irishman produced a flawless back nine, holing four birdies, to keep himself in the chasing pack.
He was joined in second place by Bryson DeChambeau, who matched McIlroy with a round of 68, and day one leader Kevin Tway, who carded a two-under 71 after his first-round 66.
Three-time PGA Tour winner Woodland bogeyed the second and seventh hole, but rallied to hole five straight birdies through holes 11 to 15 and match his firstround 67 to get to 12 under.
World No. 1 Brooks Koepka settled for a round of 70 after a disappointing first-round 76 to move into joint 27th, while England’s Ian Poulter moved up the leaderboard to tie for ninth place on six-under.
Leader Woodland said: “The big deal was just staying patient on the greens.
“It’s very tough putting with the crosswinds and I didn’t see anything go in early, but nice to see the chip go in on 11 and kind of got me going, propelled me for the rest of the round.”
Defending champion Dustin Johnson had to settle for a 74, the first time in 33 rounds at Kapalua that he was over par.
He could think of one shot he’d like to have back, out of the hazard left of the fourth fairway. The shot was fine. The trouble was it wasn’t his ball, and Johnson was assessed a two-shot penalty.
It was a bit of a fluke, as most things are with Johnson. A volunteer marshal marked where his ball had gone into the hazard, and Johnson could see it was his brand. Only when he walked about 20 yards toward the green did he see what was in fact his actual ball.
It didn’t involve the new rules, although they might have played a role. If the ball moves while trying to identify it, there is no penalty.
“It was way up in there in the hazard, so I didn’t want to move anything,” Johnson said.
“But I guess now understanding the new rule, if it moves it’s not a penalty. So that won’t ever happen again, I can promise you that. It’s just bad luck.”
His wasn’t the only blunder of the day.
Justin Thomas was tied for the lead playing a short stretch of birdie holes when he took doublebogey on the 14th hole and had to settle for a 72.
Aussie Marc Leishman took a triple bogey on No. 6 – a day after a double bogey – but he responded with six birdies over his last 12 holes to salvage a 70, to leave him four shots behind.
DeChambeau’s only mistake on the day was not having an umbrella. Rain can show up unannounced on the west end of Maui, and he was caught out by a brief shower that interrupted his preparation to play his second to the par-5 last.
“Guess you could say there was insufficient data,” said the fivetime winner and physics major.