Rory McIlroy is treating this week’s $20 million Truist Championship as a tune-up for the PGA Championship. He’s been upfront about it, too.
The Masters champion has made it clear his goal at Philadelphia Cricket Club is getting his game sharp for next week’s major at Quail Hollow. With 36 holes left to play, he’s got some work to do.
McIlroy shot a 3-under 67 on Friday in rainy, chilly conditions where tee times were moved up and preferred lies were in effect. He’s at 7 under through two rounds, five shots behind leader Keith Mitchell.
“I felt like today was another sort of scrappy one. I made what I feel are some uncharacteristic mistakes compared to how I’ve played the majority of the year,” McIlroy said.
“So just got to try to iron that out over the next couple of days, try to shoot a couple of scores without as many bogeys on the card. If I can do that and just tidy it up a little bit, I feel like I’ll be in a good spot heading into next week.”
Course Playing Tougher
Friday’s weather made the Wissahickon Course play more difficult than Thursday, when 10 players beat the previous course record of 65, led by Mitchell’s blistering 61.
“Yeah, absolutely. It’s a little more strategic,” McIlroy said of the 7,100-yard layout. “Even today, heavier air, rain, a bit of wind. I draw back on a few holes and then I hit driver on a couple.”
The 100-plus-year-old course is hosting its first PGA Tour event, and McIlroy’s approach has been interesting to watch. He made six birdies and three bogeys on Friday, hitting eight of 14 fairways and 13 of 18 greens in regulation. But his power was somewhat neutralized by the conditions – his longest drive Friday was 332 yards, after bombing nine tee shots longer than that on Thursday.
McIlroy, a vocal supporter of rolling back the golf ball, sees this venue as a perfect example of why equipment changes might be needed.
“I think there’s a lot of debate about it, but if the golf ball just went a little shorter, this course would be awesome. Not that it isn’t awesome anyway, but right now for the distances we hit it, it’s probably 500 or 600 yards too short,” he said.
“It would be amazing to be able to play courses like this the way the architect wanted you to play them. So, yeah, like it does, it gives you a better appreciation when you play them in these conditions for sure.”
Shane Lowry posted Friday’s low round with a 65, moving him within one shot of the 36-hole lead. The scoring conditions were definitely tougher in Round 2 – while the worst opening-round score was a 2-over 72, ten players shot higher than that on Friday, including Justin Rose with a 77.
