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Rory McIlroy shoots a second-round 66 to move to 11-under at the Honda Classic in Florida.
PALM BEACH GARDENS – The way Rory McIlroy had breezed through PGA National the last two days, you have to wonder what could have happened to him in 2013.
McIlroy extended his lead to three shots over Russell Henley after a morning round 66, which moved him to 11-under for the week and that much closer to his first PGA Tour win since 2012. Most impressively, he was able to bounce back after a scratchy start, with two bogeys in his first three holes, shooting 6-under over the last 12 holes, 4-under on his back nine. No one has gotten to at least 10-under in the first two rounds since this tournament was moved to PGA National in 2007.
“I think it’s just a sign of a little more maturity, as well, not really trying to force the issue or press, because I’ve made a couple of bogeys early,” he said after the round, noting how he didn’t have his rhythm to start. “Just stay patient and realize (in) 72 hole golf tournaments, it’s inevitable that you’re going to make some bogeys in there, get yourself out of position.
“I knew that with the way I’m playing and the confident in my ability, I would be able to get those shots back,” he went on. “I didn’t panic. I didn’t try to do anything different. I just tried to keep playing the way I was.”
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All eyes are on Rory McIlroy as he aims for his first PGA Tour win since 2012.
McIlroy admitted he may have handled the rough start differently last year but that he’s now at “the opposite end of the spectrum.
“Yeah, of course, because when you’re not quite in control of your swing, your confidence can sort of go in peaks and troughs,” he said. “When you hit a few good shots, your confidence can go up quite quickly but then you hit one bad one, it can sort of go down again and that’s where I was sort of most of last year, where now I feel I’m happy with where my swing is, and even if I do hit a loose shot, I can get over it much quicker and much easier because I have the confidence in what I’m doing.”
Although he hasn’t finished one off yet (outside of the Australian Open in December), he’s back to playing at a high level in 2014. The swing looks effortless again and his putter has gotten hot. It’s looking very much as though he can go wire-to-wire this week. The field is starting to get the message
“I’ll need some wind to have a chance to catch whoever it is, whether it be the boy wonder or not,” said fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell, eight shots back. “Obviously, he got off to a bad start today and still shot 66. Perfect playing conditions for him. Obviously soft, ball in hand, suits his great driving great iron play and the greens are perfect. Good playing so far from the boy.”
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Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki is on hand to cheer on fiance Rory McIlroy this week.
McIlroy’s strong finish included a stretch of three straight birdies on hole Nos. 2, 3 and 4. While his iron play wasn’t as precise as it was during Thursday’s opening round 63, he made up for it with his putter, holing a tough 12-footer for birdie on 18, a 29-footer for birdie on No. 5 and a 27-footer for birdie on No. 7.
“I did a little bit of work with Dave Stockton last week which has definitely helped,” he said. “I had not seen him since Tiger’s tournament in December. So it was nice to catch up with him, and we tweaked a couple of things. All of a sudden yesterday it started to feel very, very comfortable. The green speeds here, you can be aggressive with them. I don’t feel like the putts really can get away from you that much. So you can really get the ball rolling at the hole.”
McIlory said one of his goals this year was to become more consistent.
“You know, not making the bad round into a 71 or 72 but obviously still having the good ones,” he explained. “It’s quite emotionally draining when you have all these highs and lows and it’s nice to be able to keep it more on an even keel. Consistency in my golf game and my golf swing will give me that more of the flat line.”
While McIlroy was flying, Phil Mickelson was on his way to missing a cut at 1-over. Tiger Woods was still on the course, trying to get inside the cut line.
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