Late eagle sees McIlroy flying in China
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Champions find a way.
FedExCup holder Rory McIlroy had let a hot start in the second round at the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions slip until a final-hole eagle catapulted the Northern Irishman to second place.
The closing par-5 at Sheshan International Golf Club has long been a theatre of drama and after a big drive, McIlroy dialed in his approach game and lasered a mid-iron to just a few feet to continue that theme.
It left the 30-year-old with his second consecutive 5-under 67 and at 10 under through 36 holes, McIlroy has only Matt Fitzpatrick (11 under) ahead of him.
Earlier, the 17-time PGA TOUR winner had rattled off four birdies in a row from the third to sixth hole, and it appeared he might blitz the field. Instead, he played his next 11 holes in one over until the late heroics.
“The way I started, four under through six, I was thinking maybe shoot a better score than I shot yesterday, but you miss a couple fairways, miss a couple of greens and this course all of a sudden gets pretty tricky,” McIlroy said.
“It's easy from the fairways, but I sort of veered off them a little bit around the middle of the round, but was able to get back on track. It was obviously nice to finish the way I did.”
Since picking up his second FedExCup title, McIlroy played three times in Europe before opening his 2019-20 PGA TOUR season in Japan last week. His last three worldwide starts had seen him average 72.6 in the opening rounds before fighting back for two top-10s.
This weekend in China he can dictate proceedings if he brings his best.
“I’m delighted with the first two rounds,” he added.
“To put myself right in contention going into the weekend is something that I wanted to do. It's something that I haven't done a lot of over the last few weeks. I've sort of had bad starts and then clawed my way back into a good position at the end, but to be right in the tournament after two days, I'm excited.”