Rory McIlroy saw his hopes of victory at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut dented by a quadruple-bogey and a double-bogey in his second round; Xander Schauffele leads by five shots after shooting a second successive round of 63; Padraig Harrington leads US Senior Open at halfway
Saturday 25 June 2022 09:02, UK
Rory McIlroy slid down the leaderboard at the Travelers Championship after a shocking quadruple-bogey at the 12th hole in his second round.
McIlroy was the joint-leader after the first 18 holes and continued to set the pace after five birdies in his front nine at TPC River Highlands.
However, his score took a big hit at the par-four 12th with an incredible sequence of shots which saw McIlroy fly way left off the tee, then go wide right on his next attempt, before overshooting the green with a chip from the bunker. He eventually made a short putt on his eighth shot.
A double-bogey at the 15th hole added to McIlroy's woes and he finished six shots behind leader Xander Schauffele, who has a five-shot advantage over the field on 14 under par.
Schauffele hit a second consecutive round of 63 to lead from a five-man group on nine under par made up of defending champion Harris English, Kevin Kisner, Cam Davis, Nick Hardy and Patrick Cantlay.
Reflecting on what went wrong during his round, McIlroy said: "It's golf sometimes...it sort of came out of the blue.
"I haven't made a big number like that or a couple of big numbers like that in a long time. When you hit a tee shot like on 12, the first one, the second one is pretty difficult, and you're sort of guarding against the left one and I missed it right.
"It was just one of those. I put myself in a great position in this tournament and then just three bad swings have sort of cost me six shots. I've got all that work to sort of try to make it up over the weekend. At least I have the time to do it."
McIlroy also made seven birdies in his round and says there are still "so many birdies on the golf course" as he looks to recover and challenge Schauffele.
"I just need to get off to the start I got off to today again. There is a lot of time left and I know that there are so many birdies on the golf course for me. It's just a matter of not trying to force the issue, stay patient, and if I keep playing the golf I know I can play, I'll hopefully get a little closer to that lead."
Schauffele, whose last individual tournament win on the PGA Tour was in 2019, said: "We've got 36 more holes, and I need to stay aggressive.
"This is a course that's giving up some birdies, and if you're leading the pack and you get kind of comfortable, people are going to hunt you down.
"It's definitely something Austin [Kaiser, caddie] and I will talk about and kind of stick to what we've been doing. Obviously, it's been working out just fine. Sticking to the process is always a good thing."
Cantlay shot a 60 at TPC River Highlands as an amateur in 2011.
Asked what score he expects to be enough to win the tournament this weekend, he said: "I think historically high teens is usually pretty good around here. I think the course will firm up a little bit.
"You know, I think if no one runs away…even when DJ [Dustin Johnson] ran away that year he was high teens maybe, top end of that. You get into the teens here you got a chance."
First-round co-leader JT Poston followed up his 62 with a 70 to fall back.
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Ireland's Padraig Harrington, searching for his first PGA Tour Champions victory, holds a one-shot lead after two rounds at the US Senior Open.
The 50-year-old carded a bogey-free, six-under 65 on Friday at Saucon Valley Country Club, leaving him at six-under 136 overall.
Steve Stricker (69) is a shot behind Harrington with Rob Labritz (69) another stroke back, while Gene Sauers (67), Rocco Mediate (71), first-round co-leader Jay Haas (72), Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee (69) and New Zealand's Steven Alker (67) are tied for fourth at three under.
The other first-round co-leader, Australia's Mark Hensby, shot a 73 on Friday, leaving him tied for ninth at two under, level with Doug Barron (68) and Germany's Alex Cejka (69).
Harrington opened with a birdie at the 10th hole and had two stretches of back-to-back birdies.
"I got under par early on," he said. "I felt I lost my way a little bit in the middle of the round, and then I came back strong later on. You try a little too hard at times.
"It was nice to see I kind of got it back towards the end there where I felt pretty comfortable."
Three-time major winner Harrington, who is playing in his first US Senior Open, said: "It's a much stronger test than I expected.
"This is way, way tougher than our regular Champions Tour events. I knew this was a big advantage to me starting the week, both length-wise and being able to play from the rough if I am in the rough."
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