Rory McIlroy feels he is stuck somewhere between the third and the fourth gear after the first two rounds of the DP World Tour Championship, and is eager to floor the pedal to the metal over the weekend.
The world number three and the Race to Dubai leader shot his second successive round of four-under par 68 to move to eight-under par 136, four shots behind halfway stage leader Andy Sullivan and two ahead of his closest challenger for the European number one crown, Danny Willet (70).
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It was a round in which he hit plenty of good shots, and made some nice putts, but also failed to exploit the par-fives, making birdie on just one during the second round.
“I’m probably somewhere between third and fourth gear I guess,” said the 26-year-old who won the Race to Dubai last year and is bidding for a third European Tour No1 crown.
“I’m not quite performing at highest levels I would like to. I’m hitting it well. I feel like my putting’s getting better. I still missed a few chances but I scrambled well today. All facets of my game are pretty much there.
“It’s just a matter of being a little more efficient, taking advantage of the par 5s a bit better.
We love the sound of a cheering crowds! @McIlroyRory @DPWTC pic.twitter.com/hIc1OyzRXI
— DP World Tour Chm’ip (@DPWTC) November 20, 2015
“But considering where I am on the leaderboard, I’ll take it now. It has played a little tricky out there with the wind conditions and the direction of the wind changing a little bit. It caught me out today a couple of times. Eight-under par is a good position going into the weekend and not too far off the lead.”
As expected, McIlroy said his focus is only on winning the DP World Tour Championship for the second time.
“I just have to go out tomorrow and try to put another good, solid round of golf in and give myself a chance going into Sunday,” said McIlroy, champion here in 2012.
“I’m not going to approach it any differently. I’m just going to try to go about my business and keep control of my emotions and thoughts and if I can do that, then I feel like that’s the best way for me to approach it.
“I’m treating it like a normal event because I’m just here to win and I know if I win, then everything else will take care of itself.
“I do (see a lower round for myself). My record around this place is good and I’ve shot a few lower ones around here.
ANALYSIS: @TheJoyofGolf reviews an eventful @DPWTC day two, Sullivan’s lead & great #Grillo https://t.co/Qg5CMXcIoy pic.twitter.com/SKYa9am2H7
— Sport360° (@Sport360) November 20, 2015
“I think it’s just how comfortable I am on the golf course. I don’t see myself not shooting something around what I’ve shot today, if not a bit better.
“I’m not saying this is the worst that I’m going to shoot, but I’d have to play a lot worse than this to not move in the right direction I guess.”
Meanwhile, Willett is not too worried that he has fallen two shots behind McIlroy, as long as he finds his way back to even terms going over the back nine of the golf course on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Englishman finished his round by saving a nice par with a long putt on the 18th hole, and said: “We’ve played some pretty good golf. Obviously on the last, left-to-right, it was only putt I really holed all day, which is quite funny. It’s a strange game.
“We played some good golf, obviously stumbled at the last, but playing good golf for the first 17 holes and only holed one reasonable one, a 15-footer. Apart from that, we hit a couple stiff and that’s about it. Hopefully, we can get it rolling over the weekend.
“But six-under is not too bad. The scoring is obviously going to be pretty low so we have to go pretty deep at the weekend.
“So, a couple behind, but obviously, still two more days left. I think with nine holes to go on Sunday, hopefully it will be close. I think that’s kind of what people want to see with it being as close as what it is.”
Willett said despite all that is riding on how he finishes this weekend, he was really enjoying the tournament and not feeling any pressure.
“It’s just good fun, isn’t it. It’s a good position to be in. It’s better than pitching up here in 59th or 60th place and not playing great and playing early every day. We are in there with a shout and we keep putting some decent numbers up,” he added.
“There’s no reason to hit the panic button…ever.”
