Rory McIlroy makes halfway cut on the mark at BMW PGA
McIlroy on second-round 69 at Wentworth: "Still a few loose ones out there but it was a little better."
Rory McIlroy bounced back on day two of the BMW PGA Championship to narrowly make the cut, but he lies 12 strokes off the pace going into the weekend at Wentworth.
McIlroy, returning from a two-week break from action, opened with a dismal 4-over 76 on day one but responded as expected on Friday with a 3-under 69 to make the halfway cut on the number at 1-over par.
The Northern Irishman played one of the shots of the day at the par-3 10th having sent his tee shot into the burger vans. Short-sided and all downhill to the pin, McIlroy used his imagination to chip his ball to within 10 feet and he duly made the clutch par save to maintain his chances of making the cut.
Rory's recovery #BMWPGA #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/1r9CdlVsXN
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 20, 2019
Likely now out of contention for a second BMW PGA title, McIlroy knows he has won from seven strokes back here before so is eager to go low on Saturday to get himself back in the running.
"I battled back well and just kept my head down, but it's just nice to be here for the weekend," said McIlroy, who trailed Thomas Bjorn by seven strokes going into the final round of the 2014 BMW PGA only to go on and win the tournament after a closing 66.
"But you know I'll be out there early tomorrow, and conditions are likely to be tougher in the afternoon.
"I don't know, I mean the leaders are way up there, but if I can shoot something like 7-under tomorrow then I should give myself some sort of a chance on Sunday."
McIlroy explained the majority of his errors during Thursday's first-round 76 were simply down to poor alignment.
"My alignment got off. By starting it too far left, the club will drop in behind me. The more I do that the more my alignment goes left and it just creates a bigger gap between the two.
"I hit balls for about two hours after I played yesterday. I then warmed up for a good hour and 45 today. It felt a little better today, but it's hard when your alignment is off. You can work on things on the range, but being out on the course is a different story."
