Rory Best

Rory McIlroy shoots 64, Spieth misses cut as Jason Day leads 2016 Players Championship

• Report rights infringement
• published: 14 May 2016
• views: 37626

Jason Day leads the Players Championship by three shots as second round suspended due to darkness World number one Jason Day sits three shots clear of the chasing pack late as the second round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass was suspended due to darkness. Following up from his course record equalling 9-under 63 on Friday (AEST), Day has maintained his momentum to be 4-under through 14 holes in round two to be 14-under for the tournament. Ireland's Shane Lowry shot a 3-under round of 68 to move to second place with an 11-under 133 total for the tournament at halfway. Three players - Sweden's Jonas Blixt (67), Germany's Alex Cejka (67) and American Cameron Tringale (69) - are a further stroke back at 10-under. Five players are in the clubhouse at 9-under - Americans Colt Knost (63), Boo Weekley (69), Jerry Kelly (68), Gary Woodland (68) and Italy's Francesco Molinari (69) - while Scottish player Russell Knox is also on 9-under with three holes to play. Out in three-under 33, Day picked up further shots at the par-three 13th, where he drained a 40-foot putt, and at the par-four 14th, where his approach settled within three feet of the cup, to strengthen his grip at the top. Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson miss cut at the Players Championship Jordan Spieth needed to play his final four holes in 1-under Saturday morning to make the Players Championship cut. Phil Mickelson needed to play his last two in the same score. Neither one did. Spieth and Mickelson were among the big names to miss the cut after a morning restart of the second round, each extending a dubious streak at this event. Rounds of 72-71 left Spieth on the wrong side of the cut line at this tournament for the second straight year. Mickelson, meanwhile, left early for the fourth consecutive year. The former champion here understands that TPC Sawgrass provides a strong barometer for the state of his game. Rory McIlroy disappointed (yes, disappointed) after 64 The walk from the ninth green to the scoring area at the Stadium Course was a long, somber, angst-filled stroll for Rory McIlroy on Friday afternoon. Fans chanted his name along the ropes and screamed encouragement, the golfer oblivious to all the commotion. McIlroy kept his head down, determined to get to where he was going, looking as if he wanted to be anywhere else and exuding a less-than-happy vibe. He had just shot 64. "Disappointment; I'm frustrated," McIlroy said despite jumping 71 places on the leaderboard by the end of the day and shooting his best score ever at the Players Championship. But in this case, McIlroy is probably correct, based on the way the round ended and what could have -- should have -- been. After playing near-flawless golf for 17 holes, McIlroy botched the par-5 ninth -- his 18th -- in an inexplicable way, needing 4 shots to get in the hole from just 90 yards, a possible course-record-setting birdie turning into a scrambling bogey that had McIlroy steaming. "You know that a few guys have shot 63 here; it would have been nice to shoot 62," said McIlroy, 27, who is ranked third in the world and trails leader Jason Day by 6 shots when play was halted Friday night due to darkness after a weather delay. "And I knew that playing the last, so that was really the dilemma: What's the best way, best chance for me to make birdie here?" Standing on the ninth tee, McIlroy had made an eagle and seven birdies. He had tied the back-nine record of 29 and was staring down a 62 that had never been shot on this course. At the very least, he figured to tie the mark attained by Greg Norman, Fred Couples, Martin Kaymer and Roberto Castro, plus two golfers this year: Colt Knost earlier in the day and Jason Day in the first round. But, after a 294-yard tee shot, McIlroy was unsure about going for the green from 271 yards -- even though that shot, for him, was reasonable to pull off or at least get near the green.