British Open Championship leaderboard - Second Round 1
HOYLAKE, England (SportingAlert) — Rory Mcllroy kept his head to extend his lead at the the 143rd British Open Championship in the second round on Friday at the Royal Liverpool GC in Hoylake, England.
The Northern Ireland star shot his second straight 66 to improve his overall score to 12-under par on a second day of action when Tiger Woods struggled and just barely made the cut for the weekend.
“It was another solid round of golf,” Mcllroy said. “Going out, I just wanted to stick to my game plan, stick to doing what I do well, which is to take advantage of the par 5s, maybe take advantage of some of the holes that are downwind.
“That was all I was thinking about and I went out there and executed the game plan perfectly. All I need is two more of those again.”
While Mcllroy, who missed the cut at Muirfield last year was cruising into the weekend, former world number one Woods was struggling and only made the cut after he buried the birdie at the 18th he needed to avoid missing successive cuts for the first time in his professional career.
“I didn’t hit the driver very good today,” the American said, who finished the day with five-over 77 and two-over 146. “I also got off to a terrible start again.
“I had some opportunities to make a few birdies to get back to even for the day but did not make anything.
“At least making the cut gives me a chance,” Woods added. “I’ve got two rounds to go so hopefully I can do something like Paul (Lawrie) did in ’99.
“He made up ten in one day. Hopefully I can play well on the weekend and at least give myself a shot at it going into the back nine on Sunday.”
American Dustin Johnson at eight-under 65 move into second place with seven-under performance on the day, while Sergio Garcia, Francesco Molinari, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Ryan Moore and Rickie Fowler are all tied for third at six-under.
Woods made the nervy putt to cap off a five-over 77 for a 36-hole total of two-over 146. “Hopefully I can play well on the weekend and at least give myself a shot going into the back nine on Sunday,” Woods said.
British Open Championship leaderboard – Second Round
Total Scores on day two
Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) -12
Dustin Johnson (USA) – 8
Sergio Garcia (Spain) – 6
Francesco Molinari (Italy) – 6
Rickie Fowler (USA) – 6
Ryan Moore (USA) – 6
Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) – 6
Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) – 6
