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McIlroy surges into contention
- Updated: May 13, 2016
6:32 PM ET
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — 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.
His body language suggested 74. Maybe 84.
In 20 career rounds at TPC Sawgrass, Rory McIlroy played the front nine in a combined 12 over par and the back nine at 44 under par. Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
“Disappointment; I’m frustrated,” McIlroy said despite moving into contention, pulling within 2 shots of the leaders at the time and shooting his best score ever at the Players Championship.
“It should have been a couple better. Instead of being 2 behind the lead, I feel like I should be tied for the lead.”
Of course, everyone says that, right?
Golfers always feel they leave a few out there, the perfect round elusive.
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 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 …
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