Rory McIlroy rues poor finish which cost him chance of a 59 in Philadelphia
Friday 7 September 2018 09:43, UK
Rory McIlroy struggled to hide his disappointment at missing out on a great chance to shoot a 59 as he settled for a 62 and a share of the lead with Tiger Woods at the BMW Championship.
McIlroy followed three consecutive early birdies with a remarkable six in a row mid-round which left him needing just two more to become only the 10th player in history to break 60 on the PGA Tour.
But his approach to the seventh - his 16th - came up short and he was unable to save par from the front bunker, and he also bogeyed the tough par-three eighth before bouncing back with his 10th birdie of the day at the ninth to rejoin Woods at the top of the leaderboard.
"You don't get many opportunities to break 60, but today was one of them and I didn't capitalise," said McIlroy, who won the BMW Championship six years ago at Crooked Stick in Indiana.
"I'm not going to say it stinks too bad because I'd much rather shoot 62 today and win the golf tournament Sunday and shoot 59 today and maybe not win.
"But if someone had given me a 62 on the first tee this morning I would have taken it, so it's a great way to start the golf tournament. My game feels obviously in really good shape and there are a lot of good signs out there.
"My approach play, my wedge play has been much better, and I putted well. I basically did everything well and I'm looking forward to getting back out there early in the morning and trying to get it going again."
McIlroy opted to miss The Northern Trust a fortnight ago as he felt he needed to put in extra work on his wedge play, and he was satisfied that his time on the range was starting to pay off, while his driving was also more accurate than in Boston last week.
"I felt like I drove the ball a lit erratically the last couple of days in Boston last week, but I drove it much better today," he added. "Then you're putting yourself in the fairways and in position to hit some of the iron shots.
"My wedge play and my proximity to the hole was pretty good, and I converted a lot of the chances I gave myself. I feel like I left a couple out there but I'm fine.
"It's a great start to the golf tournament and all the I need to do is take the positives and go from here."
McIlroy is also looking forward to the prospect of going head-to-head with Woods over the weekend if both can continue their excellent starts to the tournament in the second round, which will be played earlier than scheduled due to the threat of bad weather.
He said: "That would be awesome. Tiger is sort of being a regular fixture on the leaderboard this year. Carnoustie was a lot of fun with him up there, and at Bay Hill when we were both in contention and hearing the cheers from up ahead.
"It would be cool, but there's a long way to go and I just need to get out there and play some good golf tomorrow. I think with the way the conditions are, especially with the rain that's forecast, I can't see the scoring being any different.
"We all benefit from Tiger Woods playing well, so I'm happy he's up there and it will be a great tournament if he stays up there."
