Rory McIlroy produced an excellent final hole as he sits nine off the lead after day two of the open.
The Down man finished day one, on level par. Moving to two-under-par early in the second round with birdies on the first and par five fifth.
However dropped shots at 11 and 15 looked to have derailed McIlroy for the second time in the championship.
The 2014 Open champion produced an excellent third shot on the par five 18th. Following it up with a solid putt for birdie.
A potentially tricky position on 18. An impressive up and down.
Rory McIlroy heads into the weekend under par. pic.twitter.com/MyYa14eeo5
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 21, 2023
It was “certainly important to me” explained McIlroy on his final birdie of the day. “I got off to a great start”. I “was a couple under through nine, and then gave those shots away on two of the sort of easier holes on the course, 11 and 15. But it was nice to at least get one of them back on 18 there”.
“It played tough. It played really, really tough” explained McIlroy of his round. “10-under par is unbelievably impressive out there. We'll see what the weekend holds. But after two days I'm actually pretty happy with my two days' work”.
McIlroy is tied for 12th on one-under-par, nine shots off leader Brian Harman (as of 6pm).
Championship Challenge
“I don't think I have to do anything differently,” explained McIlroy ahead of his third round. “I'm hitting the ball well from tee to green. I've missed a couple of chances on the greens”.
“The wind got me today” added McIlroy. “It's hard sometimes in two minds whether to play the wind or not to play the wind”.
It “depends what the conditions are tomorrow. Obviously depends what Brian (Harman) does, as well”.
“But that stretch like 12, 13, 14, those greens are quite exposed, and you sort of have to play the wind a little bit”.
“Right now it's not quite out of my hands, but at the same time, I think if I can get to three, four, five-under par tomorrow going into Sunday, I'll have a really good chance”.
