RORY MCILROY WAS one hole away from a course record at TPC Sawgrass during the second round of The Players Championship on Friday, but he remained frustrated with his display.
McIlroy ended the weather-delayed second round six shots behind leader Jason Day following a 64, a shot shy of the course record, equalled by the latter on Thursday.
Despite posting seven birdies and an eagle, a final-hole bogey cost McIlroy both the course record of 62 and a chance to move in on Day – one of 33 players unable to complete their rounds due to an electrical storm – at the top of the leaderboard in Ponte Vedra Beach.
“I’m disappointed, but there’s still two more days to go,” the Northern Irishman said after completing his round, when he was only two shots off the pace.
“But that’s the nice thing, I’m in a good position heading into the weekend, but it really depends on what the guys do this afternoon, because there’s so many guys that went low and the course will play a little bit tougher this afternoon, but hopefully I’m still not too far behind going into the weekend.”
Day did not complete his round, but he was clean enough to extend his lead to three strokes at the top, although he still has four holes to play.
McIlroy’s friend Shane Lowry has the 36-hole lead.
McIlroy was cruising before the final hole and was a birdie away from a course record score, but his second shot landed in the sand and the world number three failed to recover, two-putting his way to a bogey, admitting the course record was on his mind.
“Maybe if I had the five-wood in the bag, I might have went for it, because at least I could have got a little bit more height,” he said.
“But, yeah, I was thinking about it, I wanted to make birdie and shoot 62. There’s no doubt about that.”
