Imperious McIlroy moves one ahead

Reuters/Louisville, KentuckyRory McIlroy, helped by composed shot-making and a stunning eagle on his ninth hole of the day, soared one stroke clear in the weather-hit second round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Friday. Among the early starters in the third round yesterday, unheralded American Brooks Koepka and Scotland’s Marc Warren shared the clubhouse lead with solid rounds. Both fired five-under par 66 to stand on five-under 208 through 54 holes in the year’s final major tournament, four strokes behind leader McIlroy with the world number one still more than 90 minutes from teeing off. England’s Justin Rose fired a 67 to stand another shot back on 209. Koepka, 24, went birdie-bogey to start and followed a birdie at five with a bogey at the sixth before closing the front nine with three birdies in a row. At the finish, he ran off four birdies in five holes, sandwiching two on either side of a bogey at 15, then closed by a bogey. Koepka shared third at Dubai and fourth at the US Open for his best finishes of the year. Warren, ranked 103rd, opened the front and back nines with birdies and closed with three birdies in a row, including a 35-foot birdie putt at the 17th. Warren, 33, has not won since the 2007 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles but came third at the Scottish Open last month. On Friday, British Open champion McIlroy, in pursuit of a third consecutive victory on the PGA Tour, fired a four-under-par 67 on a wet, ultra-long Valhalla layout where play was suspended for 45 minutes earlier in the day due to water-logged conditions. McIlroy, the pre-tournament favorite heading into the year’s final major, holed an uphill 30-foot putt from just off the green to eagle the par-five 18th and also recorded four birdies and two bogeys to post a nine-under total of 133. Four-times winner Tiger Woods, however, ended a miserable week prematurely when he missed the cut at a major for only the fourth time as a professional, looking tournament rusty in both rounds as he carded successive 74s. McIlroy squandered a golden opportunity to add another eagle at the par-five seventh, where he hit a brilliant second shot from 243 yards to eight feet before missing the putt, but signed off with a birdie at the ninth where he drained a 16-footer. “I played well for the most part,” world number one McIlroy told reporters after moving a step closer to winning the fourth major title of his career. “Scored really well. Some key up-and-downs to keep the momentum going in the round. “I’m very pleased. I’m in a great position going into the weekend in another major championship. Can’t ask for much more. I’m confident, and I’m just on a good run. “You’ve seen before when I got on good runs like this, I can sort of keep it going for a little while,” said the Northern Irishman, who won last month’s British Open before clinching the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last Sunday in his next start. McIlroy ended his round one ahead of Australian Jason Day, who fired a best-of-the-day 65, and veteran American Jim Furyk (68). Americans Rickie Fowler (66) and Ryan Palmer (70), and Finland’s Mikko Ilonen (68) were a further stroke back. Five-times major winner Phil Mickelson (67) was next best on a high-quality leaderboard, level at six under with Austrian Bernd Wiesberger (68). England’s former world number one Lee Westwood (72), fourth-ranked Swede Henrik Stenson (71) and American Steve Stricker (68) were among a group of seven players knotted at five under. The cut fell at one-over par, leaving Woods well out of the picture after he finished at six over. Also missing the cut were US Open champion Martin Kaymer of Germany and triple major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland.