By Daniel Matthews At Pinehurst, North Carolina
18:14 14 Jun 2024, updated 23:29 14 Jun 2024
The rising sun cast long shadows on another still morning at Pinehurst but any hopes Rory McIlroy had of a second stress-free trip around this place were extinguished before most people had climbed out of bed.
After the control and restraint of day one, this was a right old scrap.
McIlroy closed his opening round shortly before 7pm local time on Thursday. He was in a share of the lead with Patrick Cantlay, having made five birdies and not a single bogey.
He was back out barely 13 hours later and this time Pinehurst bit back. McIlroy had to wait 12 holes for his first – and only – birdie. Three bogeys – including one on the closing hole – saw him slip back to three-under-par. The silver lining? Not many of the early starters made much headway on Friday.
Bryson DeChambeau birdied the last to climb above McIlroy and finish at four-under par.
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Thomas Detry is alongside him after a fine 67. The Belgian hit six birdies and looked primed to set a new clubhouse lead at -6, only for a couple of late bogeys to prevent him from going even lower.
Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, went one better, shooting 66 to reach two-under-par. That is a stroke clear of Xander Schauffele, who got himself to -3, before another chaotic round took yet more twists.
What Scottie Scheffler would have given to endure such trifling problems. The world No 1 – the other member of a blockbuster group alongside McIlroy and Schauffele – was considered a near-banker this week, such has been his dominance over recent months. Instead? He had an absolute nightmare. Scheffler failed to make a single birdie for the first time in a major round since turning professional. He is +5.
Normally so calm and controlled, the American chuntered his way between the bunkers and the native areas of Pinehurst.
Scheffler’s had a busy few weeks, in fairness, becoming a new dad and briefly visiting jail. Maybe all the stress and sleepless nights have caught up with him. He wasn’t the only one to struggle, mind.
Tommy Fleetwood (+5) and Robert MacIntyre (+6) went backwards, while Tyrrell Hatton shot a one-over 71.
He could have gone significantly lower, in fairness, after his approach to 13 virtually landed in the hole. Alas, the ball careered off into a greenside bunker. Hatton bogeyed that hole and the next.
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‘That wasn’t a nice break,’ the Englishman said. ‘I hit a really good second shot in – obviously too good… it basically landed in the back corner of the hole and then spun off 25 yards way down into the bunker.’
He added: ‘I hit four good shots there and walked off with 5. Not ideal.’
McIlroy, meanwhile, was forced to dig in as temperatures topped 30 degrees, this course played even tougher, and – not for the first time this week – his pursuit of a first major in 10 years hit choppy waters.
There certainly hasn’t been any obvious hangover after he called off his divorce.
‘I felt like I did a pretty good job at keeping some of the mistakes off the scorecard. I wish I had converted a couple more of the chances,’ McIlroy said. ‘(But) I’m still overall in a great position going into the weekend.’
The first blemish of the Northern Irishman’s tournament came on his second hole of this second round. Another bogey arrived soon after. Both McIlroy and Scheffler saw their tee shots land on the green. Both watched the ball roll back towards them. Both failed to rescue par. Frustration boiled over as Scheffler threw his putter into the air and let it crash into the green.
The world No 1 soon bemoaned one of his worst swings all year. That led to another bogey on the par-three 17th.
At that point, McIlroy was deep in a fight with Pinehurst, too. Having given himself a look at birdie, the Northern Irishman putted off the green. Staring at another dropped shot, he chipped in.
Schauffele, meanwhile, appeared to have found a lovely rhythm.
He veered between birdie and bogey on Thursday and followed up with more bedlam here – dropping two shots on his opening two holes before undoing the damage almost immediately. Three more birdies put Schauffele on McIlroy’s tail.
But then, on the par-five 5th, the world Nos 1, 2 and 3 put on a comical show. All three saw their approach shots trickle into trouble. McIlroy managed to salvage par, despite going from one side of the green to another. Schauffele and Scheffler saw their first chips roll back to their feet. Both made double bogey. That erased much of Schauffele’s progress. It only compounded Scheffler’s misery.
‘Around this place you have to hit such good shots – the golf course is challenging… it’s fun to play, but it was definitely a grind,’ the world No 1 said.
‘I’m proud of how I fought today… I just couldn’t get the putts to fall. This golf course can be unpredictable at times, and maybe it got the better of me the last couple days.’
You can bet many more players will echo those sentiments come Sunday night.