Rory McIlroy dug his Masters challenge deep out of the pine straw here on Friday. The Northern Irishman shrugged off the two double-bogeys he suffered the previous evening and with a 66 – during which he channelled his inner Seve Ballesteros – gallantly thrust himself back into contention.
So much for the narrative that insisted his latest bid for a Green Jacket had been utterly devastated by those mistakes near the denouement of his opening level-par 72. Sports Illustrated even went as far to announce it was already over for the world No 2 – “Rory McIlroy tried something different this year: a first-round collapse to lose the Masters.”
The 89th Masters is certainly not yet lost. Not for McIlroy, anyway. Indeed, on six-under, he is only two off the pace set by England’s Justin Rose, in a tie for third alongside Canadian Corey Conners, with American Bryson DeChambeau in second on seven-under.
This is just the third time in the last 12 years that McIlroy has been in the top five of the Masters at the halfway stage and he was hailing his resilience as a key factor.
“I’m proud of myself with how I responded today after the finish last night,” he said, after a round featuring an eagle, four birdies and no bogeys. “I just had to remind myself that I played really good golf yesterday, and you know, I wasn’t going to let two... you know, two bad holes sort of dictate the narrative for the rest of the week.
“I was so frustrated last night because I played so well, and you can make these big numbers from absolutely nowhere on this golf course, just like the most benign position. So it was a good reminder that you just have to have your wits about you on every single shot.”
Before he went out, McIlroy had a session with his sports psychologist, Dr Bob Rotella, and the mantra was not to try to catch up the conceded ground too quickly. On the par-five second, he drove behind a tree. No matter, he chopped it out and played a fine approach to six feet for his first birdie of the day.
He then had to wait until the par-fourth 10th for his next red number, when he sent in a dart to kick-in distance with his second from 177 yards. Do not forget this is where a triple-bogey seven in 2011 precipitated his 80-shot meltdown as the final-round leader.
On the imposing 11th, he once again refused to play it safe, going for the flag despite the water on the left. A five-footer for another birdie. He pulled his tee-shot on the par-three 12th, but a supreme chip from the pine straw allowed him to save par.
On the par-five 13th, he pushed his drive into the trees on the right. With the creek guarding the putting surface, the wise ploy was surely to lay-up. But McIlroy was charging after starting the back nine with three successive threes and wanted to make it four.
So from, yes, the pine straw he conjured a four-iron to seven feet. It only just cleared the hazard however and McIlroy admitted he initially thought it was another unforced error on his behalf “When the ball was in the air, I was like, ‘you idiot, what have you done?’,” he said. “I was in between taking a four-iron and a five-iron. I’m glad I opted for the former. But, yeah, I rode my luck a little bit with that second and it was nice to take advantage of it.”
On the 14th, he erred again with the big club and was back in the needles in the trees on the left. McIlroy found a route through the forest and located the green. On the 15th – where he chipped into the water on Thursday ...
