I originally got in on twitter as part of my job in this industry to stay up with everyone else on what pro athletes and insiders were saying, it has become such an instant and entertaining source of information. On the other hand it is just out of control busy, like the DVP with 6 accidents at 8am on a Tuesday morning...If you leave it open for 15 minutes you have 643 new tweets !!
However yesterday I tweeted that "only Rory can beat himself now" when he was up by 8, and immediately received a reply from the great Scottish announcer Dougie Donnelly who knows Rory better than most.." Absolutely not !! there is still far too much golf to be played" and as much as I want Rory to get through this weekend without another of his well documented Sunday blow ups, I think Dougie is right.
Rory can't play any better, but can he maintain this near flawless form. That is the delicious dilema that we are about to see unfold. " the toughest course in the world is the one between your ears " is the old adage, and boy is that ever the case again this weekend..
Here are what the others were saying after Rory's record setting 65,66 -11 131 total and a 6 shot lead..
"Rory is obviously running away with it, so we are pretty much playing for second unless something crazy happens tomorrow," PGA champion Martin Kaymer said. "I hope he wins, though. He's a nice person and he deserves it, especially after the Masters."
"It was Tiger Woods of 11 years ago," Ian Poulter said, referring to Tiger's 15 shot win at Pebble in 2000..
It's crazy, isn't it?" said Steve Stricker. "Pretty incredible what he's done so far."
"We'll see what Rory does."He's had leads before," Lee Westwood said, who's 68 left him 12 shots behind
"He's striking it flawlessly and putted great on the greens," said playing partner Phil Mickelson who shot a 69 to finish at +1 143. "His first two rounds were very impressive."
Just how good was he. Yesterday I posted all the records he has set with his -11, 131 total but think of this..Among those who had finished 36 holes, only seven other players had managed to break par, and no one was within nine shots.
"He's decimated this U.S. Open golf course, and this is no easy test," defending champion Graeme McDowell said. "It's an amazing display of golf."
As for Rory : It's very near the best I can play," he said. It's been two very, very good days of golf,"I put myself in a great position going into the weekend. But I know more than probably anyone else what can happen. So I've got to stay really focused and try and finish this thing off"
For those who asked me here are the all time 36 hole records for all the majors: 130 - Open Championship (Nick Faldo - 1992); 131 - U.S. Open (Rory McIlroy - 2011); 131 - Masters (Ray Floyd - 1976); 131 - PGA Championship (6 times - 2001 most recent
Looking ahead to the weekend
The second round was suspended by darkness, forcing 21 players to return this morning to complete their round. The seven groups still on the course when play was called will resume at 8:15 a.m. ET this morning. The third round is set to begin about 9:50 a.m
He has a six-shot lead over former PGA champion Y.E. Yang (69) -5, Sergio Garcia (71) and Brandt Snedeker (70) finished at -2,140. Also at 140 were Matt Kuchar (68), Robert Garrigus (70) and former Masters champion Zach Johnson (69)
The weather forecast for the weekend and Monday is hot, humid and covered in thunderstorms.. Today, overcast, high of 32*c with thunderstorms and the wind from the NW at 10km/h, so the course will remain much the same with the rain keeping the greens softer, therefore more receptive..
Canucks....Calgary's Wes Heffernan 71, is right on the cut line which was +4 before play was suspended..
Adam Hadwin has 1 hole to play this morning and is at +7 and Jon Mills,73 is also at +7 so they won't be around for the weekend but are in good company, also missing the cut, twice the U.S. Open winner Ernie Els (+6) who sadly 4 putted his first hole,#10 , Rickie Fowler (+5), Nick Watney (+6), and Ian Poulter (+6)
Matthew Richardson of Woodbridge, shot 81 +16..
Top 10 Leaderboard ( for a full scoreboard click on PGA Tour on the right side of this post)1 - Rory McIlroy -11 F -5 65 66 - - 131
2 - Y.E. Yang -5 F -2 68 69 - - 137
T3 7 Robert Garrigus -2 F -1 70 70 - - 140
T3 1 Sergio Garcia -2 F E 69 71 - - 140
T3 19 Zach Johnson -2 F -2 71 69 - - 140
T3 7 Brandt Snedeker -2 F -1 70 70 - - 140
T3 31 Matt Kuchar -2 F -3 72 68 - - 140
T8 4 Kyung-tae Kim -1 F +1 69 72 - - 141
T8 2 Alvaro Quiros -1 F E 70 71 - - 141
T8 2 Robert Rock -1 F E 70 71 - - 141
T8 14 Heath Slocum -1 F -1 71 70 - - 141
T8 2 Davis Love III -1 F E 70 71 - - 141
T8 4 Ryan Palmer -1 F +1 69 72 - - 141
T8 14 Brandt Jobe -1 17* -1 71 - - - 71
Tee times available after round 2 is complete although it will be Rory and YE Yang in the final pairing, the same YE Yang who started 6 shots behind Tiger at the 2009 PGA and beat him by 3 ..
My next post at around noon, off to the gym !!
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles
No comments:
Post a Comment