‘I tried to stay patient' – Rory McIlroy stays in the mix as Leona Maguire battles on at women's PGA Championship
It was a battling day for McIlroy at a windy TPC River Highlands, where a one-over 71 left him in touch with the leaders as he continued his push to rediscover his best form.
The world number two made four bogeys and a birdie in his first seven holes to find himself eight shots behind Scheffler on three ovet, but as Scheffler found water and double-bogeyed the 17th to shoot 69, McIlroy fought back.
Birdies at the 10th, 13th and 15th got him back to six under before he had a stroke of fortune at the 17th, thinning his second from a fairway bunker towards the lake before it skimmed off the surface and found dry land.
He dropped just one shot rather than two to go into the weekend tied for ninth, just four shots behind Scheffler, who was joined on nine under as Thomas shot 64 and Fleetwood a 65.
'I felt like I battled back pretty well,' McIlroy said. 'Got off to a rough start, three-over through four, three-over through seven.
'To get it back somewhat close to even par for the day was good.
'Yeah, I battled well. I hit some good shots and held it together when it could have got away from me early in the round.'
He admitted he was lucky to escape with a bogey at the 17th, where he was on a downslope in a fairway bunker and afraid of hitting it fat into the water in front of him.
'I caught it a little skinny, and thankfully it skipped through, and I still made a bogey, but it probably saved me a shot by skipping out,' he said.
McIlroy admitted he was concerned when he trailed Scheffler by eight shots.
'I sort of tried to stay as patient as possible,' he stated. 'When I dropped back to three (under), I saw Scottie had got to 11. I was like, oh, felt like a long way to sort of climb my way back up.
'But then I made a birdie to get to four and I saw Scottie dropped back to nine and I was like, oh, I don't feel like I'm too far away again.
'The conditions today definitely bunched the entire field together, and should make for an exciting weekend.'
Fleetwood eagled the 13th, chipped in for eagle two and driveable 15th and birdied the short 16th for his 65 as he seeks his first win in the US.
Meanwhile, in the KPMG Women's PGA, Maguire dropped four shots in her first five holes at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco to tumble to within three shots of the eventual cut line in Texas.
But she played the remaining 14 holes in two under to go into the weekend tied for 16th on two-over in the third of five women's majors in 2025, just eight shots behind leader Jeeno Thitikul.
Thitikul added a two-under 70 to her opening 68 to lead by three shots from Australia's Minjee Lee and Japan's Rio Takeda on six-under.
Maguire dropped four shots in her first five holes at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco to tumble to within three shots of the eventual cut line in Texas.
But she played the remaining 14 holes in two under to go into the weekend tied for 16th on two-over, just eight shots behind leader Jeeno Thitikul.
Maguire bogeyed the 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th and followed a birdie at the 15th with a bogey at the 16th to slip to four-over, but she dug deep on her back nine, holing a series of clutch putts as she birdied the par-five third and ninth holes in a two-under back nine.
After missing her previous four cuts, she's now just two shots outside the top 10 with two rounds to go.
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Irish Independent
13 hours ago
- Irish Independent
‘I tried to stay patient' – Rory McIlroy stays in the mix as Leona Maguire battles on at women's PGA Championship
It was a battling day for McIlroy at a windy TPC River Highlands, where a one-over 71 left him in touch with the leaders as he continued his push to rediscover his best form. The world number two made four bogeys and a birdie in his first seven holes to find himself eight shots behind Scheffler on three ovet, but as Scheffler found water and double-bogeyed the 17th to shoot 69, McIlroy fought back. Birdies at the 10th, 13th and 15th got him back to six under before he had a stroke of fortune at the 17th, thinning his second from a fairway bunker towards the lake before it skimmed off the surface and found dry land. He dropped just one shot rather than two to go into the weekend tied for ninth, just four shots behind Scheffler, who was joined on nine under as Thomas shot 64 and Fleetwood a 65. 'I felt like I battled back pretty well,' McIlroy said. 'Got off to a rough start, three-over through four, three-over through seven. 'To get it back somewhat close to even par for the day was good. 'Yeah, I battled well. I hit some good shots and held it together when it could have got away from me early in the round.' He admitted he was lucky to escape with a bogey at the 17th, where he was on a downslope in a fairway bunker and afraid of hitting it fat into the water in front of him. 'I caught it a little skinny, and thankfully it skipped through, and I still made a bogey, but it probably saved me a shot by skipping out,' he said. McIlroy admitted he was concerned when he trailed Scheffler by eight shots. 'I sort of tried to stay as patient as possible,' he stated. 'When I dropped back to three (under), I saw Scottie had got to 11. I was like, oh, felt like a long way to sort of climb my way back up. 'But then I made a birdie to get to four and I saw Scottie dropped back to nine and I was like, oh, I don't feel like I'm too far away again. 'The conditions today definitely bunched the entire field together, and should make for an exciting weekend.' Fleetwood eagled the 13th, chipped in for eagle two and driveable 15th and birdied the short 16th for his 65 as he seeks his first win in the US. Meanwhile, in the KPMG Women's PGA, Maguire dropped four shots in her first five holes at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco to tumble to within three shots of the eventual cut line in Texas. But she played the remaining 14 holes in two under to go into the weekend tied for 16th on two-over in the third of five women's majors in 2025, just eight shots behind leader Jeeno Thitikul. Thitikul added a two-under 70 to her opening 68 to lead by three shots from Australia's Minjee Lee and Japan's Rio Takeda on six-under. Maguire dropped four shots in her first five holes at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco to tumble to within three shots of the eventual cut line in Texas. But she played the remaining 14 holes in two under to go into the weekend tied for 16th on two-over, just eight shots behind leader Jeeno Thitikul. Maguire bogeyed the 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th and followed a birdie at the 15th with a bogey at the 16th to slip to four-over, but she dug deep on her back nine, holing a series of clutch putts as she birdied the par-five third and ninth holes in a two-under back nine. After missing her previous four cuts, she's now just two shots outside the top 10 with two rounds to go.
Irish Examiner
13 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
McIlroy relieved after ball somehow skims water and stays dry at Travelers
No more skipping pressing conferences, Rory McIlroy was skipping the hazards to keep his Travelers Championship challenge alive on Friday after one of the more remarkable shots of his season. The Irishman sits four back from joint leaders Tommy Fleetwood, Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas after a battling second round in Connecticut. But his back-nine revival could have been significantly derailed if not for a stunning stroke of luck on the penultimate hole. He driven off target and found the right fairway bunker McIlroy took on a treacherous second with water snaking the right side of the fairway. With 156 yards to carry to the hole, McIlroy hit out of the bunker only to see his ball splash down in the lake, skipped and spin forward, somehow staying dry. He had an unlikely chance to get up and down for a par, but saw his 13-foot putt slide by. That bogey was McIlroy's fifth of the day but four birdies, three of which came after the turn, softened the damage as his gritty 71 in windy conditions at TPC River Highlands kept him on 5-under, four back from the star trio atop the leaderboard. 'The ball on 17, I was on the downslope in the bunker and I was afraid of hitting it fat and just hitting it straight into the water in front of me. I caught it a little skinny, and thankfully it skipped through, and I still made a bogey, but it probably saved me a shot by skipping out," said a relieved McIlroy. 'It was a little fortunate.' McIlroy insists he's still firmly in the hunt for a fourth victory of the season after a frustrating, fractious spell in the wake of completing the career grand slam in April. 'To get it back somewhat close to even par for the day was good. I battled well. I hit some good shots and held it together when it could have got away from me early in the round,' McIlroy said. ' 'I don't feel like I'm too far away again. The conditions today definitely bunched the entire field together, and should make for an exciting weekend.' Fleetwood is pleased with the way he bounced back from his US Open disappointment after firing himself into contention for his first PGA Tour win. The 34-year-old had a brilliant final four holes at the last Signature Event of the season with two eagles and a birdie, with another putt at the last brushing the hole. But his round of 65 put him into a share of the lead on nine under with world number one and defending champions Scheffler and two-time major winner Thomas. Fleetwood, who has not won anywhere in almost 18 months, has had four PGA Tour top-10s this season but missed his first cut of the year at Oakmont last week. "You do quite a lot of sulking and then look at what you can do to improve. Very disappointed last week," he told Sky Sports. "I've been having a good season and I felt like my game was in a really good place going into last week. "For whatever reason - I'll never understand the game - I played really poor but in golf there is always another week and this week is a big week. "I came out motivated to take whatever there is to learn to make you better for the coming weeks and so far this week I'm happy with how I bounced back." Fleetwood's round was going nowhere with one birdie and one bogey through 12 holes until he hit a superb 261-yard approach to the par-five 13th and holed his nine-footer for eagle. He then chipped in from the front of the drivable 299-yard 15th for eagle and picked up another shot after hitting his tee shot to 12ft at the next. At the last he managed only a 205-yard drive after his ball caught a tree but drilled a nine-wood to 11ft from 226 yards but could not close out with a birdie. "I would have loved to have holed the putt but I'd take four after that tee shot," added Fleetwood, for whom the £2.6million first prize would boost his Ryder Cup prospects as he currently sits a place out of the top-six automatic qualifiers. Shane Lowry laboured to a 3-over 73 where precious little was dropping for the Offaly man. After an opening 72 Lowry was chasing second-round momentum but bogeyed his third hole then found plenty of trouble after the turn bogeying three-straight holes. His lone birdie of the day came on the 15th.
RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
Rory McIlroy remains in contention despite over-par round
Rory McIlroy remains in contention at the midway point of the Travelers Championship despite posting an over-par round at TPC River Highlands on Friday. The five-time major winner posted a flawless six-under 64 on Thursday, however, he suffered a horror start to his second round, dropping three shots in his opening four holes. A birdie on the sixth was then cancelled out on the following hole as McIlroy turned on three over for the front nine The County Down man charged down the back nine, regaining the three shots with birdies on the tenth, 13th, and 15th holes, however, he came unstuck on the penultimate hole, dropping a shot following a poor approach from the fairway bunker. McIlroy had a look at birdie to close but was unable to drain his 20 footer and settled for a one-over 71 ahead of Saturday's third round. World number one, Scottie Scheffler shares the midway lead with Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood, on nine under par, leaving McIlroy four shots off the pace and in a tie for ninth going into the weekend. Shane Lowry struggled to a three-over par round of 73 to sit on five-over-par heading into the weekend. Three bogeys in succession at the start of the back nine saw the Offaly man fall to six-over, with a solitary late birdie coming at the short par-four 15th. The 2019 Open champion lies tied-63rd in a 70-strong field - Justin Spieth and Si Woo Kim having withdrawn - though with no cut in operation, he will be around for the weekend.
