One day you make a hole-in-one and shoot a 68, the very next you take a double-bogey on the same par three and fire a 64.
Nobody needs to tell Rory McIlroy about the head-scratching nature of golf — particularly after last Sunday’s latest brush with a major — but still the world No 3 is pleased with his form with the Open Championship just three weeks away.
McIlroy was one-over at the Travelers Championship when he stepped up to the 214-yard eighth on Thursday and his ace — his first in 14 years playing on the PGA Tour — saw him hurtle to one-under in one swipe.
This time there were four swipes, plus the penalty shot for hitting his initial tee-shot into the lake, and the mini-calamity took him from eight-under for the round back to six-under.
Admittedly, McIlroy had started on the 10th in the second round, but that was merely in keeping with the bizarre situation as this was almost the exact opposite from the opening day, when the eighth kept his score respectable.
Everything looked right in Connecticut on Friday and on eight-under, the 34-year-old is in contention for the fourth week running going into the weekend.
McIlroy was more impressed with his putting than anything else and that is no surprise as it was that facet of his game which saw 125-1 outsider Wyndham Clark deny him a fifth major by a shot on Sunday.
“I was way better on the greens,” McIlroy said. “When you can get out in the morning here, they’re not quite as bumpy as in the afternoon. But, yeah I did play more solidly and gave myself more opportunities and eradicated most of the mistakes I made yesterday.”
When McIlroy left TPC River Highland, he was seven off the pace set by American Denny McCarthy, who added a 65 to his first-round 60 to stand on 15-under.
McIlroy’s focus is definitely on the British major at Hoylake, the Merseyside links where he lifted the Claret Jug in 2014. But as much as he craves to end his barren run in the events that most matter, he would love to finish off this spell, in which he has figured so often on the leaderboard, clasping some silverware.
McIlroy has two weeks off after this tournament before playing in the Scottish Open at the Renaissance links in East Lothian and from there he goes to Royal Liverpool for his last chance of ensuring that his majorless streak does not enter its 10th year.
McIlroy, who is swinging it the best he has all year, insists he is not tired or fatigued. “Yeah, I actually, for my fourth week in a row, feel okay, which is a pleasant surprise,” he said. “I went home for two days [to Florida] after LA and it was nice not to do anything.”
While McIlroy seems to be peaking at the fight time for the Wirral challenge, Jon Rahm, the Spaniard who triumphed at the Masters in April, appears to be going in the other direction.
The world No 2 produced a fast finish at the LA Country, his 65 carrying him up to a tie for 10th, but he was never in contention and after his tie for 50th at the US PGA in May he has not followed up his Augusta glory as he, himself, would have expected.
Rahm admitted on Tuesday that he could have done with this week at home, but this is a $20 million elevated event and he is obliged to appear. But a 71 left him stranded on two-under, the same mark as England’s Tommy Fleetwood, who also looks in need of a brief break after his extraordinary 63 in the final round at LACC that earned him a tie for sixth.
At the Women’s PGA Championship, the second female major of the season, it was a disappointing performance by world No 8 Georgia Hall who missed the cut on nine-over. The 27-year-old will be desperate to turn around her form in time for the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach in a fortnight. China’s Xiyu Lan was the early clubhouse leader on four-under at the famous Baltusrol layout in New Jersey.
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