Schauffele sets Players pace as McIlroy faces cut wait

Rory McIlroy is hoping a birdie on the last hole of his second round will be enough for him to make the halfway cut at the Players Championship.

“Rory McIlroy is hoping a birdie on the last hole of his second round will be enough for him to make the halfway cut at the Players Championship”

BBC

The defending champion signed for a one-under-par 71 to improve to one over for the tournament, which is right on the projected cut mark, with the top 65 plus ties playing the final two rounds.

BBC

McIlroy, who said he was feeling "rusty" in round one after several days without picking up a club as he recovered from a back injury, said he "hit the ball better" in round two and added that he "couldn't get a putt to drop," having missed seven birdie attempts from inside 20 feet.

He said "Hopefully I've done enough to get into the weekend and have another two days at it."

Xander Schauffele set the clubhouse pace on 10 under with a scintillating round of 65 at TPC Sawgrass that featured eight birdies and one bogey and saw the two-time major winner hit every fairway.

"I was attacking the golf course versus playing defensive," said Schauffele, who has twice finished runner-up at the PGA Tour's flagship tournament, and he noted it was easier to be aggressive from the fairway with the greens "just a hair softer" before adding that he thought "they're slowly firming up."

BBC

Schauffele leads by one from fellow American Cameron Young, who is on nine under after a 67, while Canadian Corey Conners also carded a 67 to lift him to eight under after holing a 102-yard wedge for an eagle three on the ninth.

Jordan Spieth moved up the leaderboard with five successive birdies but finished with a double-bogey for the second day running, calling his finish "stinks" after signing for a 68 that left him at three under.

World number one Scottie Scheffler, who had an erratic level-par 72 in round one, is among the later starters alongside England's Tommy Fleetwood, and Sweden's Ludvig Aberg had three birdies and an eagle in his opening four holes to shoot up the leaderboard.

The Players Championship runs Thursday 12 - Sunday 15 March at TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra, Florida, with live text updates and radio commentary of rounds three and four from 19:30 GMT on BBC Sport website and app, and BBC Sounds; highlights will be on BBC4 and iPlayer from 19:00 GMT on Monday, 16 March.

“Rory McIlroy is hoping a birdie on the last hole of his second round will be enough for him to make the halfway cut at the Players Championship”

BBC

McIlroy only arrived at the course on Wednesday afternoon after opting to stay at home to receive treatment on the injury that caused him to withdraw midway through the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, which limited his practice time to chipping and putting on half a dozen holes rather than extensive work on his long game.

McIlroy said that on a course like this you need to get a feel for the greens and how they're rolling and reacting, and that Thursday felt like his practice round while Friday felt a little more comfortable.