Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth leap into contention at Memorial
Saturday 4 June 2016 21:51, UK
Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth made significant moves up the Memorial leaderboard on the second day in Ohio as Matt Kuchar and Brendan Steele earned a share of the halfway lead.
McIlroy leapt into contention with a seven-birdie 66 which lifted him to within five shots of the leaders, while playing-partner Spieth is one stroke further adrift after he recovered from a poor start to card a 68 on another day of excellent scoring at Muirfield Village.
Kuchar completed a second straight 66 and completed 36 holes with just a single bogey on his card, while overnight leader Dustin Johnson could not match the heights of his opening 64 and fell three off the pace on nine under after an erratic 71.
After world No 1 Jason Day dug deep to scramble his way to a 71 in the early stages of day two, McIlroy joined the Australian on seven under after a vastly-improved performance in his all-round game.
McIlroy got off to a rocky start as he blocked his opening drive into thick rough, but he gouged his second onto the green and rolled in the putt from 18 feet which set the tone for much of the front nine.
A 142-yard approach to six feet at the third set up another birdie and, after saving par from a greenside bunker at the next, he again got up and down from sand at the long fifth for his third gain.
The world No 3 dropped a shot at the sixth when he raced his birdie putt five feet past the hole and missed the return, but a towering second shot from 220 yards to the heart of the seventh green set up a two-putt birdie, and he drained a tricky, curling left-to-right putt from 17 feet at the next for a fifth birdie in eight holes.
McIlroy kept his momentum flowing when he drained a superb 35-footer for another birdie at the 10th, and a sublime pitch to two feet from a tough lie at the 11th got him to six under for the day.
He could not save par after tugging his tee shot left of the target at the short 12th, but he atoned with his seventh birdie of the round at the 15th and parred safely in to stay at seven under, although he was disappointed not to have holed mid-range chances over the closing stretch.
"I knew 14 and 15 were going to be good chances, I didn't convert on 14, but I birdied 15," he said. "I just feel like, with the places I put myself in the last few holes, not to maybe just pick up an extra shot was a little disappointing.
"But it's a good round of golf. I feel like I played well. I feel like I can put another couple of rounds like that together over the weekend, and I shouldn't be too far away."
Spieth, an impressive winner at Colonial last week, looked in danger of missing the cut after he bogeyed two of the first four holes to slip back to level par, but he got back on track with three birdies in four holes around the turn.
And with confidence restored, the world No 2 then reeled off three consecutive birdies from the 13th and narrowly missed out on another at the last as his eight-foot putt shaved the edge of the cup.
Steele set the early clubhouse target at 12 under when he picked up four shots in five holes from the third - his 12th - to return an excellent 67, and he later had company when 2013 champion Kuchar birdied four of his last six holes.
The American pair hold a one-shot lead over Emiliano Grillo, who matched Kuchar's seven-birdie 66, while Gary Woodland enjoyed a run of four straight birdies late in his round to join the Argentine on 11 under with a 65.
Phil Mickelson produced a rousing finish with three consecutive gains to sign for a 69 which lifted him to seven under alongside a host of major champions; Day, McIlroy, Charl Schwartzel, Lucas Glover, Geoff Ogilvy and Keegan Bradley.
But Rickie Fowler's worrying run of form continued as he followed missed cuts at the Masters and Players Championship with another early exit after a 69 was not enough to repair the damage of his opening 65.
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