Rory McIlroy’s first and second rounds at Quail Hollow this week did not go as many expected.
Considering he loves the golf course and recently won The Masters, many thought he would be at the top of the leaderboard.
However, McIlroy’s opening round 74 (+3) set him back, and he only managed a 69 (-2) on Friday despite getting to four under at one point.
The Northern Irishman made the cut on the number (+1) and finds himself nine shots behind 36-hole leader Jhonattan Vegas.
Smylie Kaufman assesses Rory McIlroy’s PGA Championship chances
Smylie Kaufman shared his thoughts on whether he can still win the PGA Championship, given the position he is in.
It’s obviously not going to be easy, but Kaufman believes McIlroy “absolutely” can climb to the top of the PGA Championship leaderboard over the weekend.
The world number two played “really nicely” for most of the second round and, if he can cut out mistakes, could reduce the deficit to a manageable four or five shots by Sunday.
“Well, he was actually playing really nicely today,” Kaufman said. “He came out playing aggressively and made a nice up-and-down at the first hole. The drive he hit at No. 2 was silly, bombed right over the corner, and he made a birdie.
“He got under par for the tournament. He was four under through 10 holes and then made a sloppy bogey at 11, followed by another sloppy bogey at 12. Actually, the one at 12 you would expect when you hit it short-sided.
“Then he really just made more bogeys that were sloppy, just like on 17. He just saw Scottie Scheffler make the same putt, and he missed it right after him.
“Does he still have a chance to win this golf tournament? Absolutely, just because of the weather forecast. But still, it’s a long way to climb.”
Rory McIlroy has advantage over leading contenders in PGA Championship third round
Kaufman explained that McIlroy could have the weather on his side during the third round on Saturday.
The former PGA Tour player expects the wind to be light when McIlroy is playing in the morning and strong when the top contenders are on the golf course in the afternoon.
“That’s why Rory has a chance,” Kaufman added. “What we’re expecting in the forecast is that tomorrow morning, it’s going to be light winds and as the afternoon progresses, it’s going to be 12-15mph with gusts of wind up to 30.
“When you talk about wind with greens that are going to be drying out in the afternoon, even par is going to be a good score.
“Now, these guys in the morning with no wind, potentially, could shoot six or seven under par, and all of a sudden, these guys that shoot even par or a couple over could be a couple shots back going into Sunday.”
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