WGC R2: Rory McIlroy wraps up match with GREATEST drive you will ever see!
Rory McIlroy bounces back from going 3 down early to win 2up against Denny McCarthy.
Rory McIlroy drove to within three feet of the hole for eagle on the par-4 18th as he overcame a heavy deficit on the front nine to see off Denny McCarthy in the second round of the WGC Match Play.
McIlroy was 3 down after six holes but got himself back into the game when draining a 32-foot birdie putt on the par-3 7th.
32-footer for @McIlroyRory
He gets back to 2 DN vs. Denny McCarthy. pic.twitter.com/u2DzqDrHRL— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 23, 2023
The Northern Irishman won the next with a par to pull the match back to 1 down and he then received a massive break when his ball came to rest on the edge of the cliff at 9.
McIlroy was able to play the shot and get up and down for par when it looked certain McCarthy was about to win the hole.
A look at the unbelievable way @McIlroyRory ended up here pic.twitter.com/pWpkzNMdTD
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 23, 2023
That seemed to affect McCarthy who then bogeyed the 10th and the match was level.
McIlroy missed golden opportunities to move in front when missing from five feet for eagle at 12 and eight feet for birdie at 13, but he soon turned the screw with a stunning drive and long iron to within 15 feet for eagle at the par-5 16th.
He would two-putt for birdie and it would move him ahead for the first time all day.
McIlroy then hit the shot of the week with his TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus Driver - and possibly the shot of the season so far - when driving his ball to within three feet for eagle at the par-4 18th to wrap up the match 2up.
WATCH MCILROY'S STUNNING SHOT ON 18:
One of the greatest drives you will EVER see @McIlroyRory drives the ball to 3 FEET at the 375-yard par-4 18th with a 349-yard carry to the green! pic.twitter.com/HzhMBtyKkr
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 23, 2023
The drive at 18 went 376 yards. It was also measured with a 188mph ball speed.
How does that compare to your drives?!
McIlroy went even longer at 12.
He sent that 420 yards, albeit with some friendly cart path assistance along the way!
WATCH THAT DRIVE HERE:
420-yard drive (h/t cart path)
159 yards 7 feet@McIlroyRory enjoyed this par 5. pic.twitter.com/0iXdqB19Ms— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 23, 2023
McIlroy might not have been too pleased with his driver at The Players Championship two weeks ago, but he has recently added a new shaft in there and it would appear to have made all the difference, along with his new putter.
After the round, Sky Sports Golf's Rich Beem asked McIlroy if he was now happy with his new TaylorMade driver.
McIlroy replied:
McIlroy now needs just half a point in his match with Keegan Bradley on Friday in order to progress to the weekend.
Taylor Montgomery produced the shock result of the day when taking down Jordan Spieth 2&1.
Spieth also broke a youngster's phone.
Montgomery now tops Group 12 and just needs to tie his match with Mackenzie Hughes in order to progress to the weekend.
Elsewhere, defending champion Scottie Scheffler marched to the top of his group with a comfortable 5&4 win over Alex Noren.
Scheffler, who defends The Masters in two weeks' time, is bidding to become the first player to defend the WGC Match Play since Tiger Woods in 2004.
The World No.1 is going in search of a third win in his last five starts on the PGA Tour.
Jon Rahm bounced back from an early defeat to Rickie Fowler with an improved 4&3 win over Keith Mitchell, and he now must beat Billy Horschel on Friday in order to give himself a chance of making the weekend.
In total, 21 players have been eliminated.
You can check out who these players are at the bottom of this article.
Scroll down for the full results on day two.
We've also included each player's points total thus far so you can see who needs what going into the third round matches on Friday.
WGC MATCH PLAY R2 RESULTS
Group 10
T Finau (2-0-0) beat A Meronk (1-1-0) 4&3
K Kitayama (1-1-0) beat C Bezuidenhout (0-2-0) 2&1
Group 7
H English (1-1-0) beat W Zalatoris (0-2-0) 5&3
A Putnam (2-0-0) beat R Fox (1-1-0) 2&1
Group 15
C Young (2-0-0) beat C Conners (1-1-0) 1up
D Thompson (1-1-0) beat S Straka (0-2-0) 4&3
Group 2
J Rahm (1-1-0) beat K Mitchell (0-1-1) 4&3
B Horschel (1-0-1) beat R Fowler (1-1-0) 3&2
Group 12
T Montgomery (2-0-0) beat J Spieth (1-1-0) 2&1
M Hughes (1-1-0) beat S Lowry (0-2-0) 4&3
Group 5
M Homa (2-0-0) beat K Kisner (0-2-0) 3&2
J Suh (1-1-0) beat H Matsuyama (1-1-0) 3&1
Group 13
S Burns (2-0-0) beat A Scott (1-1-0) 1up
S Power (1-1-0) beat A Hadwin (0-2-0) 1up
Group 4
P Cantlay (2-0-0) beat KH Lee (0-2-0) 4&2
B Harman (2-0-0) beat N Taylor (0-2-0) 3&2
Group 9
C Morikawa (1-0-1) tied with A Svensson (0-1-1)
J Day (2-0-0) beat V Perez (0-2-0) 2&1
Group 8
SW Kim (2-0-0) beat V Hovland (0-2-0) 4&3
M Kuchar (1-0-1) tied with C Kirk (0-1-1)
Group 16
JT Poston (2-0-0) beat S Im (1-1-0) 1up
M McNealy (0-1-1) tied with T Fleetwood (0-1-1)
Group 1
S Scheffler (2-0-0) beat A Noren (0-2-0) 5&4
D Riley (1-1-0) beat T Kim (1-1-0) 1up
Group 11
M Fitzpatrick (1-1-0) beat MW Lee (1-1-0) 2&1
JJ Spaun (2-0-0) beat S Theegala (0-2-0) 5&4
Group 6
X Schauffele (2-0-0) beat A Wise (1-1-0) 2&1
C Davis (1-1-0) beat T Hoge (0-2-0) 3&1
Group 14
L Herbert (2-0-0) beat T Hatton (0-2-0) 2&1
R Henley (1-1-0) beat B Griffin (1-1-0) 5&4
Group 3
R McIlroy (2-0-0) beat D McCarthy (1-1-0) 2up
K Bradley (1-0-1) beat S Stallings (0-2-0) 6&5
Players Eliminated:
C Bezuidenhout
W Zalatoris
S Straka
S Lowry
K Kisner
K Mitchell
KH Lee
A Hadwin
N Taylor
V Hovland
V Perez
A Svensson
A Noren
C Kirk
T Fleetwood
S Theegala
M McNealy
S Stallings
T Hoge
T Hatton
D McCarthy
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Andy first joined the brand on a month's work experience back in April 2011, and he now assumes the Editor role. When Andy joined GolfMagic it was a small site with potential.
