Golf

Rory McIlroy battles the elements as he fails to ignite in California

Four-time Major winner stalls on the North Course and sits five shots off the lead

Rory McIlroy carded a second round of 71 in California. Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP

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Philip Reid
Fri Jan 29 2021 - 22:18

With hailstones, sodden courses and cool temperatures, Rory McIlroy might have felt a little bit at home. Even so, the Northern Irishman - like everyone else in the field, with Phil Mickelson resorting to putting wearing two winter mittens - was required to grind through the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California.

McIlroy, who shot an opening round 68 on the South Course, played his second round on the supposedly easier North Course but found it difficult as the weather conditions coming in off the Pacific Ocean exacerbated the examination, and he ultimately had to settle for a one under par effort of 71.

After starting strongly with birdies on two of his opening three holes (on the 10th and 12th), McIlroy suffered back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and 15th and, then, after getting a birdie on the 17th gave it back immediately with a bogey on the 18th to turn in level par 36. McIlroy then reeled off eight straight pars, before a fine birdie on the 18th left him five under par for the tournament at the halfway stage. Viktor Hovland leads the way at nine under after a second round of 65 on the tougher South Course with the Norweigan perhaps also feeling more comfortable in the chilly conditions.

Hovland reeled off five birdies and one bogey on his front nine before picking up three more shots on the way in to lead by one from a large tie for second made up of Jon Rahm, Adam Scott, Tony Finau, Lanto Griffin, Ryan Palmer and Patrick Reed.

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Scott, seeking a first win since the Genesis Invitational last February, eagled the Par 5 sixth hole (his 15th) on the South Course to move to nine under before a bogey on the eighth – his 17th saw him slip a shot back.

Séamus Power, who had started the week as fifth reserve but got a late place in the field, was unable to make the most of his opportunity and missed the cut. Four-time Major winner Brooks Koepka also failed to find the low round he needed on Friday with the American missing a third cut in a row at four over par.

Jordan Spieth – whose well documented struggles have seen him slip down to number 91 in the world – followed a 69 on the North Course on Thursday with a 75 on Friday to slip back to level par and miss the cut by one shot.

McIlroy, meanwhile, has been nominated to run for chairman of the PGA Tour’s player advisory council (with Russell Knox and Kevin Streelman among the other nominees). There has never been a non-American policy board member director. “I just feel like I’ve been around a logn time and I feel I can maybe help facilitate things and maybe guide things in a certain direction for what I think is better for everyone,” said McIlroy.

Collated second round scores & totals in the PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open, Torrey Pines GC, San Diego, California United States of America (USA unless stated, par 72):

135 Viktor Hovland (Nor) 70 65

136 Tony Finau 69 67, Lanto Griffin 66 70, Ryan Palmer 66 70, Jon Rahm (Spa) 69 67, Patrick Reed 64 72, Adam Scott (Aus) 67 69

137 Will Gordon 67 70, Peter Malnati 66 71, Robby Shelton 73 64,

138 Sam Burns 66 72, Alexander Noren (Swe) 64 74, Richy Werenski 69 69

139 Adam Hadwin (Can) 69 70, Max Homa 71 68, Jason Kokrak 70 69, Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 68 71, Rory Sabbatini (Svk) 72 67, Brandt Snedeker 69 70, Will Zalatoris 68 71

140 Wyndham Clark 67 73, Lucas Glover 68 72, Talor Gooch 66 74, Harry Higgs 71 69, Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 72 68, Ted Potter Jr. 71 69, Sam Ryder 71 69, Chase Seiffert 72 68

141 Cameron Davis (Aus) 70 71, Doug Ghim 70 71, Brandon Hagy 66 75, Bo Hoag 72 69, John Huh 69 72, Danny Lee (Nzl) 74 67, Marc Leishman (Aus) 71 70, Pat Perez 71 70, Roger Sloan (Can) 68 73, Cameron Tringale 72 69, Gary Woodland 66 75

142 Joseph Bramlett 69 73, K. J. Choi (Kor) 66 76, Rhein Gibson (Aus) 66 76, Kelly Kraft 73 69, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 74 68, Denny McCarthy 67 75, Kyle Mendoza 73 69, Grayson Murray 69 73, Henrik Norlander (Swe) 73 69, Xander Schauffele 70 72, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 70 72, Kyle Stanley 72 70, Steve Stricker 72 70, Bill Haas 71 71

143 Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 72 71, Bronson Burgoon 69 74, Corey Conners (Can) 72 71, Jason Dufner 74 69, Rickie Fowler 70 73, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 70 73, Sung Jae Im (Kor) 69 74, Matt Jones (Aus) 70 73, Michael Kim 69 74, Tom Lewis (Eng) 68 75, Luke List 66 77, Tyler McCumber 76 67, Troy Merritt 71 72, Phil Mickelson 71 72, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72 71, Matthew NeSmith 70 73, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 72 71, Cameron Percy (Aus) 71 72, J. T. Poston 69 74, Kevin Stadler 71 72, Sepp Straka (Aut) 69 74, Kevin Streelman 68 75, Justin Suh 71 72, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 67 76, Xinjun Zhang (Chn) 70 73, Tain Lee 71 72

The following players missed the cut:

144 Scott Brown 71 73, Beau Hossler 66 78, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 70 74, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 68 76, Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn) 71 73, Martin Laird (Sco) 70 74, Hank Lebioda 73 71, Ryan Moore 70 74, Seung-Yul Noh (Kor) 68 76, Doc Redman 73 71, Scottie Scheffler 65 79, Jordan Spieth 69 75, Scott Stallings 69 75, Robert Streb 68 76, Brian Stuard 71 73

145 Tyler Duncan 73 72, Chesson Hadley 73 72, Billy Horschel 76 69, Russell Knox (Sco) 71 74, Cameron Smith (Aus) 66 79, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa) 74 71, Jared du Toit (Can) 70 75, Rafael Campos (Pur) 71 74

146 Kramer Hickok 73 73, J. B. Holmes 75 71, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 68 78, Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor) 74 72, Patrick Rodgers 72 74, Adam Schenk 75 71, Jimmy Walker 73 73, Cameron Young 74 72, Matthew Every 76 70, Michael Gellerman 74 72

147 Chris Baker 72 75, Cameron Champ 68 79, Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 76 71, Charles Howell III 80 67, Hunter Mahan 76 71, Ben Taylor (Eng) 73 74, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 70 77, Kristoffer Ventura (Nor) 72 75, Bubba Watson 70 77

148 Jason Day (Aus) 76 72, Scott Harrington 74 74, Tom Hoge 70 78, Brooks Koepka 72 76, Maverick McNealy 74 74, Keith Mitchell 77 71, J. J. Spaun 74 74, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 75 73

149 Mark Anderson 78 71, Sebastian Cappelen (Den) 70 79, Joel Dahmen 78 71, James Hahn 70 79, Jamie Lovemark 79 70, Andy Ogletree 72 77, Kevin Tway 69 80, Willie Mack III 74 75

150 Harris English 79 71, Nelson Ledesma (Arg) 73 77, Harold Varner III 78 72, Nick Watney 74 76, Jim Knous 72 78

151 Rob Oppenheim 72 79,David Hearn (Can) 74 77, Ryan Brehm 77 74

152 Ty Strafaci 77 75

153 Vincent Whaley 72 81, Séamus Power (Irl) 78 75

156 Michael Gligic (Can) 79 77

157 Andres Gonzales 70 87

159 John Senden (Aus) 76 83