Rory McIlroy left to rue six costly shots giving him uphill PGA Championship task
Rory McIlroy failed to capitalise on a flurry of birdies during his second round at the PGA Championship on Saturday, leaving him a near-impossible task to win his first major title in 10 years.
McIlroy's week got off to the perfect start on Thursday, carding an impressive five-under-par 66 in his opening round to keep him well in the mix. He failed to kick on in round two though, as a stop-start level-par 71 saw him slip off the pace, leaving a tough task heading into the weekend.
With conditions perfect on Saturday, the early starters made a flurry of birdies, including McIlroy's Ryder Cup teammate Shane Lowry, who carded a record-equalling nine-under-par 62 to ensure he will be in the conversation on championship Sunday.
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The four-time major winner however failed to take advantage, playing his opening six holes in level-par. As he often has the ability to do though, McIlroy soon turned on the switch. Starting on the seventh, the Northern Irishman made four birdies on the bounce to see his name rise into contention, three shots behind leader, Xander Schauffele.
The highlight of his four-hole run came at the par-three eighth, after the 35-year-old holed a superb 21-foot putt for birdie. Having moved to nine-under for the week, the PGA Tour star left himself with a chance to make birdie No. 5 at the par-three 11th, but this is where a frustrating stretch would start for the 2014 champion.
After firing his tee shot to 13-feet, McIlroy looked destined to roll in for the two, but saw his putt brutally lip out, before tidying up for par. Not to be deterred, he gave himself another huge chance to gain ground on Schauffele, leaving himself nine-feet for birdie at 12th.
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Rory McIlroy's last major win came in 2014
Like the hole earlier however, McIlroy failed to convert and this would be a sign of things to come. The anchor had been well and truly dropped on the Northern Irishman's firing form as another missed birdie putt followed at 13, before his first blemish since the first hole came with a bogey at the 14th.
Another dropped shot made its way onto the card at the 16th, and by this point he had seen his name drift a hefty six shots off the leading pace. He did manage to battle his way back to eight-under for the tournament, after a tidy up-and-down at the par-five 18th, but with the leaders still out on the course, his hopes of being involved at the business end of the tournament on Sunday looked slim.
In the aftermath, McIlroy was quick to look back on the six-hole stretch that slowed down his Saturday afternoon. "I really got it going around the turn there to get to four-under," he commented. "And then I kept hitting good shots and had good looks at 11, 12 and 13, 15.
"Then I made two bogeys with a missed putt on 14, a three-putt. Yeah, there was a six-hole stretch there, seven-hole stretch where just sort of the putter cooled on me. Depending on what happens tomorrow, that's sort of the -- if I look back on the tournament, I may rue that six-hole stretch where I wasn't able to hole any putts."