AT DIFFERENT STAGES today, things were looking worrying for Rory McIlroy. He recorded two bogeys in his opening four holes, was failing to find form or hole his putts.
A one-over total of 36 for the front nine told its own story. The Ulsterman was not playing well – and then he suddenly found form, getting six birdies and one bogey on the inward nine, including a hat-trick of birdies in the closing holes.
First, on 16, he hit a 168-yard approach to four feet before making birdie on the par-4.
That was followed by a solid wedge on the par-4 17th, leaving him with a slight left-to-right putt for another birdie. He got it.
Then came 18, a 331-yard drive – one of seven fairways he hit in regulation today – before he hit his second into a greenside bunker.
From there came a superb shot, leaving him three feet from the hole. He nailed the birdie on the par-5 to sign for a 66 and move to eighth on the leaderboard.
The most pleasing aspect of all for McIlroy is that he is tied first for the number of birdies he has notched this week so far.
As the top seed in the FedExCup, Patrick Cantlay continued where he left off yesterday, and is one shot clear of Jon Rahm, the Spaniard.
Back-to-back birdies for the second time today.@JonRahmPGA pours in a 25-footer at No. 17. pic.twitter.com/Tpf4mvdoMK
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 3, 2021
Cantlay started the tournament with a two-shot lead over Tony Finau before even hitting a shot. Finau is now in a tie for fifth on nine under, one shot ahead of McIlroy. Cantlay, on 17 under, is nine shots ahead of the Ulsterman.
“I think being in the spot that I’m in, it would be easy to get ahead of yourself and easy to maybe stray from your game plan because you feel like you’re ahead,” Cantlay said. “And that’s just not helpful, so I’m not going to do that.”
Cantlay, who started at 10-under par when he teed off on the first on Thursday, is now on 17-under, one shot ahead of Rahm, who had a 65 today to follow up on his 65 yesterday. The Spaniard is on 16-under, briefly moving into a tie for the lead today following a birdie on 18 before Cantlay also birdied 18 to sign for a four-under 66.
Bryson DeChambeau is third on 11-under after shooting a 67 today.
