Rory McIlroy carded a one-over 71 in the second round of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills after a chaotic back nine
Rory McIlroy’s turbulent back nine amid challenging conditions at Shinnecock Hills saw him slip away from US Open second-round pacesetter Wyndham Clark.
Just as the Masters winner appeared poised to mount a serious challenge to the American, his round unravelled dramatically.
Failing to convert a six-foot birdie opportunity at the turn, which would have left him three shots adrift of the 2023 champion, proved the least of the world number two’s troubles.
Battling intensifying winds, he struggled to judge distances accurately, overshooting the greens at the 10th, 11th and 12th holes, dropping a shot at each.
A brief resurgence followed with consecutive birdies: nearly holing his 108-yard approach at the 13th for a simple tap-in, before the cup rescued a scorching 40-footer to restore him to two under par.
After another overhit approach at the 15th, his recovery chip failed to hold and trickled into a bunker, resulting in his group’s first double bogey of the tournament while playing alongside Ryder Cup colleagues Tommy Fleetwood and Ludvig Aberg.
That setback returned him to level par, seven strokes behind Clark but – given Shinnecock’s notorious difficulty – still very much in contention in a share of 10th place.
His outward half proved far steadier, featuring seven pars alongside birdies at the fifth and eighth for a 33, though his inward 38 for a one-over 71 fell well short of expectations.
“If there’s a course where you feel like you still have a chance if you’re seven back going into the weekend like I am, it’s definitely this one,” said McIlroy.
“I know that everyone else in the field is going to make bogeys so if I can limit my mistakes and pick off a few birdies here and there, hole a couple more 20 to 25-footers than other guys, that’s really the strategy.
“You can’t go chasing pins around here. You can’t try to be too aggressive; today for me was a prime example.
“I was a little too aggressive to the pin on 11, a little too aggressive to the pin on 12 – all of a sudden just two bogeys in a row out of nowhere.
“I think you still have to play smart, try to keep the ball under the hole, hit it into the middles of the greens and take your chances when they present themselves.”
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