He doesn’t make it easy of himself, does he? Rory McIlroy seemed in cruise control early-on only for a couple of malfunctions to bring complications in his quest to close out the season with a win in the DP World Tour Championship, as a second round 69 for eight-under-par 136 left the world number three a shot adrift of Frenchman Antoine Rozner.
No panic buttons required, or anything like that. Indeed, the first of the two-pronged bids for glory – that of securing the Harry Vardon Trophy for the order of merit – seems virtually a given, with his only challenger on the front, Thriston Lawrence, who needs a win, languishing in tied-34th, all of nine shots adrift of the leader.
So in effect, McIlroy is headed into the weekend chasing the tournament itself, with its near €3 million winner’s cheque, for what would be a fourth win of the season.
McIlroy had moved into solo lead two shots clear of his nearest pursuers with four birdies in his opening seven holes only for a three-putt bogey on the eighth and a pulled drive into the wood bark on the 10th leading to dropped shots.
“I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t kick on after such a great start. I just started to miss a few fairways around the turn and not by much either but the rough is so thick, and you lose all control of your golf ball if you hit it in there,” said McIlroy, who steadied the ship on the back nine with seven straight pars before birdieing the 18th for a 69.
With the Order of Merit effectively a done deal, McIlroy said of his mindset going into the final two rounds: “At this point, I’m just trying to win the golf tournament, and if I win the golf tournament, then everything else that happens alongside that is nice. I’m so comfortable around this place and I’ve had success before. So I’m liking my chances going into the weekend.”
The three Irish players in the field have different realistic scenarios to chase yet: McIlroy, of course, has that double aim of a tournament win to go with the order of merit, but Shane Lowry too navigated his way into contention for the tournament with a second round 67 for 138 in tied-fifth, while Tom McKibbin’s 70 for 141 in tied-16th ensured the 21-year-old Ulsterman’s bid to claim one of the 10 PGA Tour cards available off the rankings remains a viable aim.
Lowry’s 67 moved him into the mix, a run of four birdies in his opening seven holes getting the juices flowing until back-to-back bogeys on the eighth and ninth where he paid the penalty for finding the thick rough. He recovered to claim three birdies in a bogey-free back nine.
“I’m very happy. I knew I had to shoot a decent score if I wanted to get myself back in the tournament. I did that, and hopefully I can keep that going on the weekend. I’m hitting the ball well. I really feel good. You know, I’m happy out there. I feel like I’m in control,” said Lowry who hasn’t finished outside the top-15 in any tournament since the FedEx St Jude Classic back in August.
Of the challenging course setup, Lowry remarked: “The course is set up brilliant. This is the way golf should be. It should be penal for missing fairways, and there should be a premium on driving the ball in the fairway and that’s what it is this week ... I’ve been in the tournament every year since 2011, so that’s something to be proud of.
“It’s been a long, decent career so far. I finished second here once before, so hopefully I can go one better this week.”
For McKibbin, there is one eye very much on the grand prize of earning a ticket to the PGA Tour for 2024 through the strategic alliance pathway between the US circuit and the DP World Tour. McKibbin was 11th on that list headed into the season finale and is in position for a strong weekend challenge.
“You have to expect to drop a few shots with how tough the rough is, taking a wedge out or trying to advance it as far as you can. Hopefully I can try to play similar, just tidy up a few things,” said McKibbin.
Rozner – who hasn’t won since the Mauritius Open at the start of 2022 – shot a bogey-free second round 65 for 135 to claim a one-shot lead over McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton. With the weighted points, a win would propel the Frenchman to second in the order of merit and also earn him a PGA Tour card.
“I need a really good weekend for that. I’m going to try to focus on having two solid days. See how it goes at the end. I think if I can have a chance on Sunday to either win it or get one of those cards, yeah, it would be great. I’ve been playing really well the last few months, and yeah, let’s go. Let’s take advantage of it,” said Rozner who has transformed his season in the last month with a fourth-placed finish in the Genesis Championship in South Korea and a tied-sixth in Abu Dhabi.
