McIlroy 'pretty pleased' with bogey-free 67 at the RBC Canadian Open

TORONTO – On a day when Rory McIlroy needed a solid round to get into the mix at the RBC Canadian Open, he – like so many times before – delivered.

McIlroy, who is looking to become the first person in the tournament’s history to win the event three times in a row, shot a 5-under 67 Friday and moved to 6 under for the week. He’s tied for 11th, just three shots back of leader Carl Yuan.

The 23-time TOUR winner improved mightily with his driving, from 99th on Thursday to second Friday in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. He jumped to 55th from 114th in Strokes Gained: Approach The Green and was 13th in Strokes Gained: Putting.

Add it up, and McIlroy was chuffed with his day-two effort.

“I felt like I putted pretty well yesterday. But iron play was better, wedges were definitely better, got it in play a little more off the tee. So yeah, it was a better, more solid round,” McIlroy said.

While Corey Conners was making his own move Friday and riling up the Canadian faithful (Conners, looking to become the first Canadian to win the RBC Canadian Open since 1954, is 8-under par through 36 holes and just a shot back of the lead), McIlroy was also feeling the love.

“I think winning the tournament the last couple of times helps,” McIlroy said with a smile of why he’s gotten so much crowd support. “Since the first time I played the Canadian Open I feel like I've got a tremendous amount of support. And it's great just to play in an atmosphere like that out there this afternoon.”

McIlroy wasn’t able to see Oakdale Golf and Country Club until Thursday’s opening round, but he admitted that he doesn’t mind sightreading a golf course. He likes reacting to targets and what he’s seeing.

“There are certain venues on TOUR that I go back to and I play well, but it's not really because I remember how putts are breaking or where to miss it. It's just I feel comfortable at that venue. So, I'm not saying I'm better at playing a course blind but sometimes it's nice not to know where the trouble is,” McIlroy said. “You just sort of react to your targets out there and you really get into your shots. So sometimes I don't feel like it's that much of a disadvantage.”

McIlroy has finished in the top 10 in his last two starts on TOUR (the PGA Championship and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday) and has one victory to his credit so far this season at THE CJ CUP in South Carolina.

Now he’s looking to make a weekend move, and make a little history in Canada, too.

“Three back going into the weekend – I'm pretty pleased with that,” McIlroy said.