McIlroy back on track at Irish Open; two share Mortgage Classic lead

Rory McIlroy is back in the hunt to win the Irish Open after recording a second round score of 67 on Friday. McIlroy is five under par at the halfway point as the Northern Ireland star followed his first round score of 72 with an impressive second day.The four-time major champion is five shots behind leader Dale Whitnell after the Englishman carded a second successive 67.

McIlroy felt he could have done even better after surging through his first 10 holes in five under before eight successive pars.

“I got off to a better start and once you do that, you make a couple of birdies early, you start to feel like you can make a few more,” McIlroy said.

“The greens were much better this morning than they were yesterday afternoon as well so it felt a little easier to hole putts and that’s really what I did.”

McIlroy initially had a poor record in the Irish Open and missed the cut for three years in succession.

He won at the K Club in 2016 and donating the prize money to his foundation, which was hosting the event.

“Everything was just a little bit better today and it just added up to a better score,” he added.

“It could have been a little better than what it was, playing the two par fives in even par on the front nine. I missed a couple of chances too, but it was better.”

Meanwhile, Chile’s Joaquin Niemann and England’s Tom Lewis fired three-under par 69s on Friday to share the halfway lead in the US PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Michigan.

At 10-under 134, Niemann and Lewis topped a crowded leaderboard, with the Americans Troy Merritt, Chris Kirk and Max Homa a shot back on 135.

Another eight players were two strokes off the lead, a group that included overnight leader Davis Thompson, who followed his first-round 63 with a one-over par 73.

Niemann was among the handful of players who returned to complete the first round on Friday morning.

He launched his second round with seven pars before a two-foot birdie at the eighth. He birdied the par-five 14th and drained a seven-footer at 17 for his third birdie of the day.

“Right now everything is pretty good,” said Niemann, who became the first Chilean to win on the PGA Tour with a win at the Greenbrier two years ago.

Lewis, a two-time winner on the European Tour, is seeking a first US PGA Tour title, but acknowledged he had plenty of work to do to make that happen on Sunday.

“This is obviously the hardest tour to play on and to win on, but I’m a long way away from that,” he said. “If I can, then awesome. My time will come when I’m ready.”

He rattled in a nine-foot par putt at his final hole to remain bogey-free for the week.

“I was saying to my caddie, John, it would be nice to go up and down and go bogey-free for two rounds,” Lewis said. “It’s always nice doing that. I’m really pleased with the way I’ve been playing.”

Homa joined the chasing group with a seven-under par 65, while Merritt and Kirk both signed for 68s.

Scotland’s Russell Knox also posted a 65 to join the group on 136.

But as afternoon winds kicked up, plenty of players found the going difficult.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, followed an opening 72 with a one-under 71 that saw him miss the cut by two strokes.

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama will also miss the weekend, the Japanese star withdrawing after testing positive for Covid-19.

“It’s disappointing to receive this news and have to withdraw from the Rocket Mortgage Classic,” Matsuyama, the first Japanese man to win a major golf championship, said in a statement.

“I will take all the necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of all others. I appreciate and thank everyone for their concern in advance. I look forward to a full recovery and returning to competition as soon as possible.”

Elsewhere, Finland’s Matilda Castren fired her second straight five-under 66 to grab the clubhouse lead in the suspended second round of the LPGA Volunteers of America Classic tournament in The Colony, Texas.

Castren sits at 10-under overall for a two-shot lead over a pair of South Koreans, Lee6 Jeong-eun and former world number one Ko Jin-young at the Old American Golf Course.

Lee6 carded a second-round 70 while first-round leader Ko remained at eight-under for the tournament through just four holes of her second round.

Agencies