When Rory McIlroy won the PGA Championship a year ago, he was already the runaway favorite to dominate golf in the post-Tiger era.
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Matt Jones is tied for the lead and was rolling along on his 13th hole of the day when a rainstorm powered by 48-mph gusts forced supension of play.
Along with his putting, Spieth said he was unhappy with how he was hitting shots off the tee.
“He’s taking up a lot of the limelight this year, which is deservedly so”, Mcllroy said while taking a break from preparing for the PGA Championship, which teed off this morning.
“I’ve been friends with Rory since maybe middle to end of the first year that I was out here, when we first played together and whatnot”. With six birdies and one -bogey, Spieth took only 24 putts, but t-ypical of his competitive psyche, said “I’m kicking myself” for not converting chances on the final two holes. And if nothing else, it enabled the 22-year-old Texan to cut even deeper into McIlroy’s lead. And one golf club. 1 and 2 tend to be polite affairs.
McIlroy – playing competitively for the first time since the US Open at Chambers Bay in June and recovered from the ankle ligament rupture that caused him to miss the defence of his British Open and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational titles – wasn’t, though, overly impressed with his own play.
“But I think it’s really cool that… that he would come down to watch considering they (the Packers) had a game last night”, Spieth said. “That’s something really for him to be proud of”.
“Do I go back to sleep? I would argue there’s nobody like it when he’s hitting his driver good“, added Spieth, who would replace McIlroy as world number one with a victory.
For McIlroy, his ball nestled halfway into the tall grass with nearly six inches between the actual ball and the ground, there came a recovery shot that failed to find the green. “It’s really doesn’t do anything for me”.
Spieth had a chance to unseat McIlroy last week and couldn’t seal the deal.
Up until he reached the 18th green, Spieth, who began his second round on No. 10, had been having trouble getting birdie putts to drop into the hole.
There’s his work ethic, for one. “So, I believe that on and off the course it’s not just me”.
McIlroy stifled a smile. “And then when he got out of position he got it up and down”.
“I still haven’t accomplished that goal”, said Spieth. Then he got even more diplomatic, saying it depends what part of the game you value most.
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“His game is extremely exciting”, he said of McIlroy.
