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Saturday, June 04, 2016
Russell Knox makes the cut at Muirfield Village
Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth leap into contention at Memorial
SKYSPORT.COM
By Keith Jackson
Rory McIlroy
leapt into contention at the US PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament with a seven-birdie 66 which lifted him to within
five shots of the second-round leaders, while playing-partner Jordan Spieth is one stroke
further adrift after he recovered from a poor start to card a 68 on
another day of excellent scoring at Muirfield Village.
Matt Kuchar is co-leader with fellow American Brendan Steele after a second straight 66 for 12-under 132. He has completed 36 holes with just a single
bogey on his card and Steele has had rounds of 65 and 67 Overnight leader Dustin Johnson could not
match the heights of his opening 64 and fell three off the pace on nine
under after an erratic 71.
McIlroy birdied five of the first eight holes in his second-round 66
After world No 1 Jason Day dug deep to scramble his way to a 71
in the early stages of day two, McIlroy joined the Australian on seven
under after a vastly-improved performance in his all-round game. McIlroy
got off to a rocky start as he blocked his opening drive into thick
rough, but he gouged his second onto the green and rolled in the putt
from 18 feet which set the tone for much of the front nine. A 142-yard approach to six
feet at the third set up another birdie and, after saving par from a
greenside bunker at the next, he again got up and down from sand at the
long fifth for his third gain.
The world No 3 dropped a shot at
the sixth when he raced his birdie putt five feet past the hole and
missed the return, but a towering second shot from 220 yards to the
heart of the seventh green set up a two-putt birdie, and he drained a
tricky, curling left-to-right putt from 17 feet at the next for a fifth
birdie in eight holes. McIlroy
kept his momentum flowing when he drained a superb 35-footer for
another birdie at the 10th, and a sublime pitch to two feet from a tough
lie at the 11th got him to six under for the day. He could not
save par after tugging his tee shot left of the target at the short
12th, but he atoned with his seventh birdie of the round at the 15th and
parred safely in to stay at seven under, although he was disappointed
not to have holed mid-range chances over the closing stretch. "I
knew 14 and 15 were going to be good chances, I didn't convert on 14,
but I birdied 15," he said. "I just feel like, with the places I put
myself in the last few holes, not to maybe just pick up an extra shot
was a little disappointing. "But it's a good round of golf. I feel
like I played well. I feel like I can put another couple of rounds like
that together over the weekend, and I shouldn't be too far away."
Spieth,
an impressive winner at Colonial last week, looked in danger of missing
the cut after he bogeyed two of the first four holes to slip back to
level par, but he got back on track with three birdies in four holes
around the turn. And with confidence restored, the world No 2 then
reeled off three consecutive birdies from the 13th and narrowly missed
out on another at the last as his eight-foot putt shaved the edge of the
cup.
Jason
Day shot a one-under par 71 at the Memorial Tournament in his second
round but struggled with his game all day, he claims it was a lack of
focus
Steele set the early clubhouse
target at 12 under when he picked up four shots in five holes from the
third - his 12th - to return an excellent 67, and he later had company
when 2013 champion Kuchar birdied four of his last six holes. The
American pair hold a one-shot lead over Emiliano Grillo, who matched
Kuchar's seven-birdie 66, while Gary Woodland enjoyed a run of four
straight birdies late in his round to join the Argentine on 11 under
with a 65.
Matt Kuchar shares the halfway lead with Brendan Steele
Phil
Mickelson produced a rousing finish with three consecutive gains to
sign for a 69 which lifted him to seven under alongside a host of major
champions; Day, McIlroy, Charl Schwartzel, Lucas Glover, Geoff Ogilvy
and Keegan Bradley. But Rickie Fowler's worrying run of form
continued as he followed missed cuts at the Masters and Players
Championship with another early exit after a 69 was not enough to repair
the damage of his opening 65. SCOREBOARD par 144 (2x72)
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