Players: Rory McIlroy fears he will slip again as Justin Thomas enjoys spotless first round | Golf News

The Players Championship will resume at 8:15am (local time) on Sunday, with a live broadcast from midday (UK time) on Sky Sports The Players; PGA Tour Still Hoping to Complete 72 Holes at TPC Sawgrass on Monday Night

Rory McIlroy goes two in two rounds and could miss his chance at The Players in his second year running

Rory McIlroy is sweating at the prospect of missing out on the opportunity to miss out on the tournament at The Players Championship in its second year.

After completing the last three holes of the opening round, hitting card 73, the 32-year-old Northern Irishman shot 73 in his second match under challenging conditions at TPC Sawgrass to end the day in a two-goal tie. .

That leaves McIlroy outside of the expected cutoff and while further wind and rain could give him a chance to sneak through, the former world No 1 admits he faces an anxious wait. .

“I don’t know. I might be a little short,” he said. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow. Obviously, Saturday’s bogey was very ill-timed.

“I thought if I hit the last shot and got through one round, that would be good enough. I did everything I was supposed to do with nine. I hit four good shots, but the shot was just kind of unwilling. get involved..

“Hopefully I’ve done enough. I mean, it just depends on everyone else’s conditions tomorrow.

“It’s very tough. The front nine holes are a bit more sheltered so maybe it’s not playing quite as hard. But some of the holes in the back nine are very exposed, like 16, 17, 18, it’s very difficult. brutal. Hitting those tees on the 17th and 18th and just keeping them dry and moving forward is fine.”

Given the severity of the conditions, questions have been raised about how fair it is for one side of the draw to have fared worse results than the other, but McIlroy has been diplomatic about the issue. this topic.

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He told reporters: “You get your good things, and you get your bad things. “You have to believe they’re all gone over the course of a year or a career, I guess.

“I’ve definitely had a good side when I’ve been drawn many times, and I also have a bad side a lot. But at the end of the day, I feel like it’s all a harbinger.

“It sucks that the bad end of the draw is this tournament, but how is it.”

Thomas: One of my best rounds ever

While McIlroy faced a suspenseful wait, Justin Thomas performed one of the day’s rounds in the same group to keep himself in the fray of becoming the first player to win the tournament in consecutive years. next.

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Justin Thomas posted a no-magic 69 in extreme conditions at TPC Sawgrass in round two at The Players Championship

The 28-year-old shot a spotless 69 in the second round to take a three-shot lead, currently tied for sixth place by Tommy Fleetwood and Tom Hoge.

Thomas is happy with his performance and ranks the ring among the best players he has played.

“I don’t know what I’m happier about, obviously I’m happy to be done but I’m even more pleased to end the day with no gimmicks,” he told Sky Sports.

“I played one of the best innings I’ve played in a very long time, if ever. I’m just proud of my patience today.”

Thomas takes the lead in Florida three times as he aims to win The Players for the second year in a row

He added: “I just tried to hit as many greens as I could today because I know it’s hard to close it. It’s really hard to get even two, three, four feet with that wind. I just, especially all the par-threes, I want, just put this ball on the green, just take it to the ground.

“It’s soft enough that it won’t run away from you, and it only took two hits and on, and I was able to sprinkle in a few birds.

“I’m very happy with the way I played and the way I played today. It was a very, very difficult day, and I just have to be patient and play well.

When asked to describe the conditions, Thomas said it was more like playing in England than you would normally expect in Florida.

“Humor is a word that comes to mind,” he said. “Because of how soft it is, it’s not unplayable or anything, the balls don’t roll off the green. But it’s like the Open Championship. There’s definitely a lot of feeling there. .”

Watch the Players throughout the weekend and into next week live on Sky Sports’ dedicated Players Championship channel. Live coverage continues Sunday from midday on Sky Sports The Players.