The final round of the U.S. Open was anything but boring. As it unfolded, it was hard to imagine what might happen next.
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CROMWELL, Conn. – Rory McIlroy may have doomed his chances to win the Travelers Championship after a decidedly uneven, even-par 70. He is six behind 36-hole leader Xander Schauffele, who shot his second straight 63 (14 under). Although Schauffele will take a five-shot lead over five players into the weekend – including Patrick Cantlay (67), his partner in their win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans – McIlroy’s misadventures at TPC River Highlands were equally eye-opening. The surprising lapse: a quadruple bogey at the 12th hole and double bogey at the drivable 15th. “It sort of came out of the blue,” said McIlroy, whose card also included seven birdies and one bogey. “I haven’t made a big number like that or couple big numbers like that in a long time.” Playing his fourth tournament in four weeks, McIlroy was always going to be fighting fatigue. He also has a cold and has said he hasn’t been comfortable with his fairway woods. Still, after an opening-round 62 he was still at it Friday, 5 under through 11 holes and in the lead at 13 under. Then it all went wrong. McIlroy hooked his tee shot out of bounds left on No. 12. After a penalty and hitting three from the tee, he blew his next effort into the right fescue, advanced his fourth shot into the greenside bunker, barely got his ball out of the sand, and took three to get down from there for an 8. It was McIlroy’s sixth career quad, and first since the 2021 PLAYERS Championship. “You know, when you hit a tee shot like on 12, the first one, the second one is pretty difficult,” he said, “and you’re sort guarding against the left one and I missed it right.” He used a fairway wood again at the 271-yard 15th hole, and that, too, led to problems. His tee shot would up on the fescue-covered hillside right of the green, and while he seemed to have averted disaster when his second shot stopped just short of the green, he bladed his third over the green and into the water. He took a drop, chipped up, and made an 11-footer to save double. It was a bizarre sequence for one of the best players in the world, but McIlroy chose to focus on the positives: seven birdies, his hot start to the round, and the 36 holes left in the tournament. “For whatever reason I haven’t been comfortable with my fairway woods the last couple weeks,” he said. “You know, I just hit three loose ones there, two on 12, and then the one on 15. That was really it. I played well the rest of the way. Obviously got off to that great start. “I thought I came back well,” he added. “I made a good putt for 6 on 15 and then birdied 16. Yeah, I should be closer to the lead. Feel like I let a lot of guys into the golf tournament because of it. But, you know, it’s still only two rounds. There are two rounds left and a lot of golf left.”
Adam Hadwin is optimistic he’ll return for the PGA Championship next week after dropping out of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational with a hip injury. The top-ranked Canadian golfer made the call to bow out of this week’s event in Akron, Ohio on Wednesday, decid
NAPA, Calif. — Tyler Duncan chipped in from the fringe for eagle on the par-5 18th hole Friday to take the second-round lead in the season-opening Safeway Open. Making his second career PGA TOUR start, Duncan shot a 6-under 66 for a one-stroke lead over defending champion Brendan Steele at Silverado Resort and Spa. Duncan, the Web.com Tour graduate who shared the first-round lead with Steele and Tom Hoge, also had seven birdies and three bogeys to reach 13-under 131. “It’s crazy, it’s nothing I could have ever dreamed of,” said Duncan, whose only other PGA TOUR event was as a regional qualifier in the 2015 U.S. Open. “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, to be honest. It’s something I’ve dreamed about for a long time. I’m just happy to be playing here and to be in the lead is something special.” Steele had six birdies and a bogey in a 67. He’s 30 under is his past six rounds in the event. “It was really a solid day, very similar to yesterday,” Steele said. “I hit a lot of good shots, rolled and a lot of good putts and was able to watch Chesson go crazy.” Chesson Hadley, who began the second round seven shots behind the leaders, broke the course record with a career-best 61 to get within two strokes. He parred the final two holes. “It’s just one of those days everything was going my way,” said Hadley, the 2014 Puerto Rico Open winner who regained his TOUR card through the Web.com Tour. “I was hitting great shots, good putts and got some good breaks. When you get that of momentum, things just go your way. He had an eagle, 10 birdies and a bogey. His previous career best was a 64 in the opening round of the 2015 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Zac Blair (66) and Tony Finau (65) were 9 under, and Graham DeLaet (67) and Brian Davis (66) were another stroke back. “I just had a lot of good looks,” said Blair, who doesn’t have a bogey through 36 holes. “I made 17 greens out there, left myself in some good spots, made a few of them and it was just kind of easy out there.” Emiliano Grillo, who won the event two years ago, was 7 under after a 70. Phil Mickelson, seeking his first win in since 2013, shot his second 69 to reach 6 under. “I expected to score a little bit better today, but I had some good chances today,” said Mickelson, who had six birdies, one bogey and a double bogey. “I drove it a lot better, I hit quite a few more fairways and gave myself some good birdie chances. But I let a few opportunities slide.” Mickelson, playing in his 91st PGA TOUR event since his last win, finished eighth in the tournament last year and has six straight rounds in the 60s at Silverado. “A low round is out there,” said Mickelson, who birdied three straight holes after double-bogeying the 14th — his fifth hole of the day. “I feel like I’m getting close to it.” John Daly, the two-time major winner who in May won his first PGA TOUR Champions title and is playing via a sponsor exemption, birdied the 18th for second-round 69 to make the 1-under cut at 143. Daly had missed the cuts in his past 12 PGA TOUR events.
