US OPEN: RORY McILROY ADDS A 66 TO HIS OPENING 65

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE

By OLIVER BROWN

With a consummate exhibition of shot-making that left even Phil Mickelson applauding, Rory McIlroy streaked into a barely believable lead at the US Open today.

Sustaining the inspiration that had propelled him to a first-round 65, the 22 year-old compiled a front nine of peerless brilliance to rewrite the records at this 111-year-old tournament.

Truly, the US Open has not seen this degree of dominance since Tiger Woods bared his teeth with a 15-shot win at Pebble Beach in 2000. But even Woods led by a mere six at the halfway stage in the year of his most emphatic major triumph.

McIlroy led by 11 shots at one stage after his birdie on the 17th hole to become the only player in history to reach -13 at the US Open - traditionally golf's most demanding major.

That he went onto double bogey the 18th meant he eventually signed for a 66, and had to settle for a 36-hole total of 131. Mickelson, a four-time major champion and himself three under for the day, simply stood by and clapped.

So much for worries of a second-round slump: the 80 with which McIlroy had followed an opening 63 at the Open last summer remained vivid in the memory, but the Hollywood ‘phenom’, as the Washington crowd here are fond of calling him, controlled any nerves effortlessly.
McIlroy, who had imploded so spectacularly at the Masters two months ago, consigned such thoughts to the dustbin of history as he completed 35 holes without a single dropped shot. He found the water on 18th to prove he is human, and tossed his ball into the lake in frustration.
At a US Open, which imposes such draining demands on a player with every hole, this defies credulity. But at times, it seemed McIlroy could barely wait to hit the next shot.
His relentless assault on the record books began early, as he drained a 25-foot birdie putt at the 470-yard fourth. The momentum built irresistibly at the par-five sixth, with a glorious arcing approach over the lake to six feet. Naturally, he steered the putt into the dead centre of the cup.
The party trick of the round, though, as McIlroy pitched a lob wedge to the back of the eighth green and watched the ball creep down the slope, the backspin taking it into the hole to cue a beaming high-five with JP Fitzgerald.
We waited for the wobble that never happened. Indeed, the gaping chasm between McIlroy and the rest only grew when he put his second to the 14th four feet from the pin. The ensuing birdie took him to 11 under.
No one had ever gone better than 12 under – and the last man to do so was a certain T Woods.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 142 (2x71)
131 Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 65 66.
140 Robert Garrigus (US) 70 70, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 69 71, Zach Johnson (US) 71 69, Brandt Snedeker (US) 70 70.
141 Kyung-tae Kim (Japan) 69 72, Alvaro Quiros (Spain) 70 71, Robert Rock (England) 70 71.
SELECTED SCORES
144 Ed Molinari (Italy) 74 70.
146 Matteo Manassero (Italy) 74 72.


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