McIlroy four off the pace

GOLF:RORY McILROY could be without his close friend Graeme McDowell on the US PGA Tour next season with the Portrush man confessing last night that he may return to Europe in 2012 to concentrate on making Jose Maria Olazabals Ryder Cup team.

The Holywood star clawed his way onto the fringes of contention at Firestone Country Club when he birdied the last for a second successive 68 that left him just four shots off the pace on four under par.

But after a second round 72 left McDowell 11 shots behind the leaders on three over, the 32-year old revealed he is keeping an open mind about whether or not to retain PGA Tour membership next term.

“I am at the suck it and see stage but next year is a Ryder Cup year so I just don’t know right now,” McDowell said.

He joined the US Tour following his US Open win last year but is waiting to see how he adjusts to his new schedule and the vagaries of the FedEx Cup series before making a decision on 2012.

Making the Ryder Cup team is a huge priority for Europes match -winning hero at Celtic Manor and he wants to make sure he gives himself the best chance possible of qualifying for a side that will see the top five from the European Points List joined the next five from the World Points list and two captain’s picks.

The Ryder Cup is far from McIlroy’s mind right now but it remains to be seen if he is proved correct in his prediction that Tiger Woods will do well to finish in the top 20 here in his first start since taking 12 weeks off to recuperate from knee and achilles injuries.

The former world number one sounded almost relieved to shoot a two-under 68 in Thursday’s first round and despite firing a one-over par 71 in yesterday’s second round, he was upbeat about the state of his game ahead of next week’s US PGA date with Pádraig Harrington and Davis Love.

“I know my stats dont show it, but just the way Im driving the golf ball, the start lines are so much tighter, and the shape of the shots are so much tighter,” Woods said. “You know, just like B(ryon) and I were talking out there, Im so close to putting the ball on a string, so its coming.”

Question marks still remain over Woods’ ability as a putter and those doubts re-emerged yesterday as he took 32 putts on the greens, missing from 18 inches for par early in his round.

With his old Scotty Cameron back in the bag, the world No 28 took 29 putts in round one but he confessed that the blade had let him down yesterday as he finished his day seven strokes behind the eight-under-par clubhouse target set by Australia’s Adam Scott (70) and American Rickie Fowler (64), Ryan Moore (66) and Keegan Bradley (65).

Starting on the back nine with close friend Darren Clarke (74), he bogeyed the 14th in jaw-dropping fashion when he drove into a fairway bunker, laid up and the zipped a wedge back to just 18 inches. Casually stepping up to tap in for par, he walked away to compose himself after his putt horseshoed around the hole and stayed above ground.

Another shot went at the next, the par-three 15th, when he pulled his tee shot and missed from nine feet for par.

But there was a purple patch to come. He birdied the 16th from 10 feet and the 17th from just six to get back to two under par for the tournament and should really have birdied the 18th after a towering wedge to six feet.

However, his back nine was a sea on inconsistencies. After starting back with four straight pars, he bogeyed the fourth, birdied the short fifth from eight feet and then double-bogeyed the sixth when he carved his drive into trees on the right, overshot the green with his second and the chipped through the green to the apron from where the three-putted from 50 feet for a six.

He hit back with a birdie two at the seventh and parred in for his 71. And while the statistics say that he hit just eight fairways, three more than the first round, and 11 greens, he called the numbers deceptive and preferred to lament his putter rather than his misses with the longer clubs.

McIlroy opened with a birdie from two feet but at the first but bogeyed the par-five second to slip back to two under before following up with a frustrating run of 10 successive pars.

However, he holed a 14-footer for birdie at the 13th to get within five of the lead, saved par from 10 feet after overshooting the 17th and then birdied the last from 11 feet for his second successive 68.