Angel steps aside as McIlroy ascends

THE KID staged his entrance like an old pro. His father, Gerry, had just been reminiscing about the yearly excursions to the West of Ireland – perhaps it was the chill in the air as much as the Easter timing that prompted the recollections – when his son strutted on to the first tee.

Moments earlier, Angel Cabrera had occupied his place to a smattering of applause, and Bubba Watson followed to slightly louder acclaim.

The two combined wouldn’t have matched that which greeted Rory McIlroy. It set the trend for the day.

First things first, and McIlroy dutifully shook the hands of the gentleman in the green jacket before setting his sights down the first fairway of the Par 4 first hole.

Over time, the opening hole had become a brute; all 445 yards of it. By day’s end, it had played to an average of 4.378 – only the 11th played tougher – and no fewer than 32 players took a bogey or worse on the hole.

McIlroy’s opening swing of his second round showed he wouldn’t be in that number.

On Thursday, he’d pushed his drive into the trees en route to a double bogey six. This time, his swing was smoother and more rhythmical. The ball was long, past the fairway bunkers, and in the middle of the fairway. Game on! Another trend for the day. He had his mojo back.

On Thursday, an errant drive on the first had put McIlroy on the back foot until a late cache of back-to-back birdies revitalised him.

Yesterday, McIlroy followed up a pure drive with an approach shot that landed within a couple of feet of the pin only to spin back to 45 feet. Still, a two-putt par was achieved; and, then, after finding a fairway bunker off the tee on the Par 5 second and another greenside trap, another par was gratefully accepted.

After that, the fireworks started. The tempo rose. And the galleries responded.

On the Par 4 third, after a drive of 290 yards, McIlroy pitched to 10 feet. The putt was only halfway to the hole when the 22-year-old Ulsterman started his walk, putter raising a la Nicklaus to guide it into the hole. The five baby steps he took to retrieve the ball from the cup marked the first birdie of a round that would see move with stealth up the leaderboard.

In truth, there was nothing quiet about his birdie on the fourth. The Par 3 fourth – all 240 yards – can inflict its share of pain but not to McIlroy. Not yesterday at least. Despite a considerable wait on the tee, as the group ahead went about their business, McIlroy simply got on with the task at hand. After hitting his tee shot to 35 feet, his putter again rose to the challenge as he steered the ball into the hole.

On the seventh, he nabbed his third birdie of the round where, after finding the first cut of rough off the tee, he followed up with an approach shot that spun back to 15 feet below the hole.

Again, he rolled in the putt.

The putting work with Dave Stockton since his final round meltdown a year ago in the Masters has contrived to turn a potential Achilles’ heel into one of his strengths. The routine, time and time again, is a simple one. Put down the ball, visualise the putt, three quick looks to the hole  . . . . and hit! More often than not these days, the ball is prone to find its target.

Okay, so there was a momentary blip on the 10th – where he three-putted for bogey – but McIlroy did what he had to do on the homeward run’s two Par 5s, as he birdied the 13th and 15th to get to five-under-par, at which stage he moved (however briefly) into a share of the tournament lead alongside Jason Dufner, Fred Couples and Sergio Garcia.

It didn’t last, but the damage, as Garcia and McIlroy slipped a shot coming in, wasn’t terminal; they’re right where they want to be, on the shoulders of the leaders.

That birdie on the 15th demonstrated McIlroy’s improved short game. Having gone for the green in two, and left himself with a difficult chip, McIlroy showed his soft touch.

“To be honest, the chip shot didn’t quite come off the way I wanted it to. I wanted it to land maybe another yards or two further on, but it took a pretty nice hop in the fringe and trundled on to the green. It was not exactly how I envisioned it but it worked out pretty well.

“Coming here with an improved short game definitely gives you confidence. It sort of gives you confidence the whole way through your bag, from the driver to the irons, just because you know you can be that little bit more aggressive.”

For McIlroy, the scrambled par save on the 18th – having bogeyed the 17th – was as important as the two late birdies he had produced from the bag like a magician later on Thursday. “As nice as the two brides were (on 17 and 18 in the first round), if I had finished with two bogeys (yesterday) I would have been just as bad. It was great to get up-and-down on 18. I thought three-under was a good effort.”

It was. And the chase is on.