Rory McIlroy storms to the front in PGA playoff
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: Rory McIlroy continued his good form to move to a one shot lead after the second round of the US PGA playoff event in Boston.
WORLD No. 1 Rory McIlroy continued his good form to move to a one shot lead after the second round of the US PGA playoff event in Boston.
McIlroy fired a second consecutive six-under 65 to move to 12 under par for the tournament, one clear of South African Louis Oosthuizen (65) and two clear of 14-time major champion Tiger Woods (68), who joined fellow American Ryan Moore (68) tied third at 10 under par.
Australian John Senden (69) continued his steady form to be five shots off the pace in a tie for 12th at seven under par.
McIlroy slotted home six birdies and an eagle with just two bogeys to take top spot.
"I'm very pleased with how I played today, how I played yesterday as well, and I'm in a great position," McIlroy said.
"I got off to a nice start and just kept the momentum going.
"Everything seemed to work pretty well out there. I felt like I drove the ball a bit better today and hit more fairways, which gave me some more opportunities to make birdies, and I was putting well enough to take a few of those."
Woods wasn't able to recreate his heroics from round one, but still managed five birdies and just two bogeys.
"I'm happy with the way I hit it but I didn't putt very good," Woods said.
"I didn't really make anything. Hopefully tomorrow will be a lot better."
All seven Australians made the cut with Greg Chalmers (68) the next best at five under while Adam Scott (69) snuck inside the top 20 at four under. Geoff Ogilvy (-1) all but secured a place in the next round of the playoffs by making the final two rounds but Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day have put themselves under pressure. Needing to finish inside the top 20 to guarantee a place in the BMW Championship next week the Aussie pair were unable to back up their solid 68s from round one with decent efforts.
Day dropped three shots late in his round to card a two-over 73, sending him back into a tie for 38th at one-under.
Baddeley was a shot worse, posting a three-over 74 to plummet down 36 spots into a tie for 53rd at even par.
Marc Leishman rounds out the Aussie tilt, sitting in a tie for 60th at one-over par.
Ramsay fires 64 to lead European Masters
In Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland, Richie Ramsay of Scotland shot a 64 to lead at 11 under after the weather-affected third round of the European Masters.
Ramsay, who had six birdies and didn't drop a shot, holds a one-stroke lead over fellow Scot Paul Lawrie (67) and Danny Willett (68) of England.
Second-round leader Julien Quesne of France is a further shot back after going round in level-par 70.
Heavy overnight rain forced organisers to reduce the par-4 sixth to a par-3.
Fog then forced play to be suspended approaching midday for nearly two hours, just as the leaders prepared to start their rounds.
Lawrie, who won at Gleneagles, Scotland last week, led until driving out of bounds at the par-5 14th. The European Ryder Cup player made a double-bogey.
Second round scores from PGA TOUR event, the Deutsche Bank Championship (par-71).
130: Rory McIlroy (NIR) 65 65
131: Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 66 65
132: Ryan Moore (USA) 64 68, Tiger Woods (USA) 64 68
133: Noh Seung-Yul (KOR) 62 71, Jason Dufner (USA) 67 66, Chris Kirk (USA) 63 70, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 68 65, D.A. Points (USA) 68 65
134: Bryce Molder (USA) 65 69, Charley Hoffman (USA) 67 67
135: John Senden (AUS) 66 69, Dustin Johnson (USA) 67 68, Jeff Overton (USA) 64 71
136: David Hearn (CAN) 67 69, Phil Mickelson (USA) 68 68
137: Greg Chalmers (AUS) 69 68, Ted Potter Jr. (USA) 69 68
138: Tom Gillis (USA) 69 69, Ernie Els (RSA) 69 69, Robert Garrigus (USA) 71 67, Ian Poulter (ENG) 67 71, Steve Stricker (USA) 69 69, Adam Scott (AUS) 69 69
139: Kevin Stadler (USA) 68 71, Troy Matteson (USA) 72 67, Luke Donald (ENG) 67 72, Lee Westwood (ENG) 68 71, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 69 70, Webb Simpson (USA) 69 70, Matt Every (USA) 71 68, Jonas Blixt (SWE) 67 72
140: Kyle Stanley (USA) 70 70, Hunter Mahan (USA) 68 72, Bob Estes (USA) 71 69, Bo Van Pelt (USA) 69 71, John Merrick (USA) 68 72
141: Pat Perez (USA) 69 72, J.B. Holmes (USA) 72 69, Jim Furyk (USA) 69 72, Zach Johnson (USA) 70 71, George McNeill (USA) 71 70, Bae Sang-Moon (KOR) 69 72, Daniel Summerhays (USA) 71 70, Geoff Ogilvy (AUS) 72 69, William McGirt (USA) 69 72, Carl Pettersson (SWE) 71 70, Bud Cauley (USA) 68 73, Johnson Wagner (USA) 70 71, Nick Watney (USA) 72 69, Dicky Pride (USA) 69 72, Jason Day (AUS) 68 73
142: Scott Piercy (USA) 72 70, Tommy Gainey (USA) 72 70, J.J. Henry (USA) 69 73, Josh Teater (USA) 71 71, Vijay Singh (FIJ) 73 69, Aaron Baddeley (AUS) 68 74, Blake Adams (USA) 69 73
143: Brendon De Jonge (ZIM) 70 73, Marc Leishman (AUS) 72 71, Rickie Fowler (USA) 71 72, Bill Haas (USA) 71 72, Martin Flores (USA) 72 71, Harris English (USA) 70 73, Scott Stallings (USA) 70 73
144: Jonathan Byrd (USA) 72 72, Mark Wilson (USA) 74 70, Brian Harman (USA) 71 73, Matt Kuchar (USA) 70 74, Keegan Bradley (USA) 71 73, John Huh (USA) 71 73, Roberto Castro (USA) 72 72, Kevin Na (USA) 69 75, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 70 74, Jimmy Walker (USA) 73 71, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 74 70, Sean O'Hair (USA) 70 74
MISSED THE CUT:
145: John Rollins (USA) 69 76, Ryan Palmer (USA) 71 74, Tim Clark (RSA) 71 74, Ricky Barnes (USA) 71 74, Ben Crane (USA) 74 71, Charlie Wi (KOR) 71 74, Justin Rose (ENG) 75 70
146: Rory Sabbatini (RSA) 71 75, K.J. Choi (KOR) 70 76
147: Charles Howell III (USA) 71 76, Martin Laird (SCO) 72 75, Ken Duke (USA) 72 75, Graham DeLaet (CAN) 72 75, Bubba Watson (USA) 75 72, Greg Owen (ENG) 69 78
148: Brian Davis (ENG) 75 73
149: Michael Thompson (USA) 74 75
152: Cameron Tringale (USA) 73 79
153: Ben Curtis (USA) 79 74
WITHDREW:
Spencer Levin (USA)