Despite being selfish from the tee for most of the day, Rory McIlroy put together a 5-under 67 on Thursday, leaving a stroke from the lead after his first round with the player.
McIlroy missed the uncharacteristic 10 fairway and ranked 81st in the field of 144 strokes obtained from the tee. Usually, his strong suit, McIlroy's driver, was everywhere. But in many cases he missed the tee shot on the right.
“I certainly didn't drive it the way I wanted. I didn't hit it on as many fairways as I wanted. Yeah, I think I can get away a bit because the Greens are so receptive. I can't get away with it for the rest of the week, McIlroy said.
“But I'm trying to push this cut shot into play. The immediate missing from the tee on top of the hole is far better than the missing left. You just slam this cut into the wind and obviously you don't need to hit it either.”
He closed on the 18th fairway with another right mistake, but hit a gorgeous recovery shot from a pine straw that led to his seventh final birdie.
Camilo Villegas, JJ Spaun, and 2009 US Open Champion Lucas Glover hold an 18-hole lead with a 6-under par.
Player Championship Round 2 Tee Time (ET):
* – Start of the 10th hole
7:40am – Henrik Nolander, Ricky Castillo, Bencores
7:40 am* – Doug Gimm, Ryan Fox, Sami Varimaki
7:51am – Eric Cole, Ben Griffin, Max Glazerman
7:51 AM* – Andrew Putnam, Charlie Hoffman, Denny McCarthy
8:02 AM – JJ Spaun, Jacob Bridgeman, Chandler Phillips
8:02 AM* – Daniel Berger, Minwoolly, Rasmus Whaigard
8:13 AM – Emiliano Grillo, Bion Hun, Adam Schenk
8:13 AM* – Harris English, Billy Horchel, Justin Rose
8:24am – Taylor Pendris, Peter Marnaty, Kurt Kitayama
8:24 AM* – Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele
8:35am – Blythe Garnet, Mathupabon, Kamilovillegas
8:35 AM* – Morikawa River, Adam Scott, Tommy Fleetwood
8:46am – Austin Eckrote, Jake Nap, Taylor Moore
8:46 AM* – Keegan Bradley, Ricky Fowler, Patrick Cantray
8:57 AM – Nico Echabaria, Kevin Yu, Eric Van Louen
8:57 am* – Nick Dunlap, Akshay Batia, Tom Kim
9:08 AM – Carl Bilips, Sam Burns, Cameron Young
9:08 am* – Harry Hall, Chris Gottap, Shiukim
9:19 AM – KH Lee, Carson Young, Patrick Fishburn
9:19 AM* – Jonattan Vegas, Matt Kucha, Adam Hadwin
9:30am – Trey Marinax, Ryo Hee-san, Laurie Canter
9:30am* – Samuraider, Grayson Sig, Mac Meissner
9:41am – Chris Ventura, Kevin Roy, Jackson Suber
9:41 AM* – Max McGreevy, Ryan Gerard, Frankie Capan III
12:45pm – Landgriffin, Andrewnovac, David Lipski
12:45 PM* – Chad Ramey, CT Pan, Vince Whaley
12:56 PM – Keith Mitchell, Justin Lower, Nikolai Fujad
12:56 PM* – Joel Dahmen, Patrick Rogers, Chang Kim
1:07pm – Michael Kim, Alex Marley, Sam Stevens
1:07 PM* – Beau Hossler, Mark Hubbard, Ben Silverman
1:18pm – Maverick McNerry, Brian Herman, Tony Finau
1:18 PM* – Raphael Campos, Davis Riley, Gary Woodland
1:29pm – LudvigÅberg, Matsuyama Hideki, Justin Thomas
1:29 PM* – Joe Highsmith, Brian Campbell, Matt McCarty
1:40pm – Russell Henry, Schoen Raleigh, Victorhofland
1:40 PM* – Patton Kizaia, Lucas Glover, Corey Conners
1:51pm – Wyndham Clark, Danny Walker, Jordan Piece
1:51 PM* – Sahis Tegara, Matt Fitzpatrick, Will Zaratris
2:02 PM – Thomas Detrey, Sep Straka, Nick Taylor
2:02 PM* – Davis Stompson, Stephen Jeger, Tom Hoge
2:13 PM – JT Poston, Seamus Power, Mackenzie Hughes
2:13 PM* – Aaron Rye, Cam Davis, Christian Bezidenhout
2:24 PM – Chris Kirk, Luchist, Adam Svenson
2:24 PM* – Robert McInteel, Max Ho-na, Seung Jae Im
2:35pm – Budcoly, Mattischmidt, David Skins
2:35 PM* – Nate Lashley, Will Gordon, Rico Whey
2:46 PM – Hayden Springer, Jesper Svenson, Will Chandler
2:46 PM* – Alejandro Tosti, Isaiah Salinda, Aldrich Potgieter
Jack Mirco is a golf staff writer who plays SB Nation. Follow him with x @jack_milko.
