Rory McIlroy will be very content with where he is after two rounds of the Players Championship, with the Northern Irishman nine under par at the halfway stage at TPC Sawgrass.
It was Rory McIlroy who shone while grouped with Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele over the first two rounds at the Players Championship, with the 35-year-old not far off the lead after rounds of 67 and 68 in Florida.
McIlroy’s opening round was somewhat chaotic. Meanwhile, he will be a little frustrated to make two bogeys in his final four holes – particularly after six birdies in his first 14 holes of the day.
He was two shots off the lead when his round concluded. But there have been plenty of opportunities to score over the first two days at TPC Sawgrass with those around par facing a nervy wait to see if they would make the cut.
Rory McIlroy excited for the challenge over the weekend at the Players Championship
That may not be the case over the weekend, however.
There are set to be winds of between 25 and 35 miles per hour over the final two rounds. That could certainly cause some chaos on a course as challenging as Sawgrass.
But it seems that McIlroy is relishing the challenge.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be really important to try to flight your ball and keep it under the tree line. I think once it gets above the tree line here it can start to really get hit by it. And it does, it does swirl a little bit, but I think when the wind is so strong, it will be a little more consistent. But, yeah, this course is challenging enough, but with a wind like that, yeah, I’m excited for that challenge,” he said.
“Just trying to control my ball flight, trying to hit different shots, trying to play with some creativity is something that I think I’ve gotten a lot better at over the last few years,” he added, when asked why he was excited.
How McIlroy has performed over the final two rounds at TPC Sawgrass
It is surprising that McIlroy has only played on the weekend three times since 2018. He did win the event in 2019, but his overall record is not overly impressive.
In his previous six appearances, he has just six rounds over the final two days. And he has only broken 70 on two occasions. He also shot one weekend round of 75 in both 2016 and 2017.
As things stand, McIlroy is probably going to have to go low on at least one of the days to win the tournament for a second time in his career. But the challenging conditions could create all kinds of drama.
And given the confidence McIlroy has in his game right now, it should come as no surprise to see him capitalise as others toil.
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