LEADERBOARD
DAY 1
June 17th 2011, Maryland, U.S.A.: Brandt Snedeker stood on the 16th hole, glanced at the 111th U.S. Open leaderboard, saw Rory McIlroy's double-digit score and wondered if McIlroy was playing the same course. Zach Johnson, upon hearing that McIlroy had reached 13 under par during the second round, asked if that was his net or gross score.
The 22-year-old McIlroy set the Congressional Country Club grounds abuzz for the second straight day. McIlroy posted a 5-under 66, which ended with a double bogey on the Blue Course's 18th, to open a chasm on the leaderboard.
When McIlroy walked off the course at lunchtime, he was finished for the day at 11 under par, eight strokes ahead of second-place Y.E. Yang, the 2009 PGA champion who had yet to tee off.
Yang shot a 2-under 69 to reach 5-under 137 and lop two strokes off McIlroy's lead, but he remains a record-tying six strokes back after 36 holes. In 2000, Tiger Woods led Thomas Bjorn and Miguel Angel Jimenez by six strokes on his way to a record 15-stroke victory at Pebble Beach.
At 8:04 p.m. EDT play was suspended for the day due to weather, leaving 21 players still to finish the second round. A 42-minute weather suspension in mid-afternoon combined with darkness to prevent the round from being completed. Play will resume Saturday at 8:15 a.m. EDT, with the third round to follow after the cut (low 60 and ties).
But the story remained McIlroy, who had the U.S. Open record-book keepers working overtime.
With an eagle-2 on the par-4 eighth - he holed out a pitching wedge from the fairway (113 yards) - McIlroy became the quickest to reach a double-digit, under-par score, getting to 10 under in just 26 holes. His 36-hole total of 131 eclipsed Ricky Barnes' 2009 record by a stroke, and his brief 13-under total was the lowest ever in U.S. Open history, bettering Tiger Woods (2000) and Gil Morgan (1992) by one.
"He's going to have to do something really, really bad, or we're going to have to do something spectacular to catch him," said Robert Garrigus, who shot 70 on Friday and is in a five-way tie for third at 2-under 140 with Sergio Garcia, Matt Kuchar, Johnson and Snedeker. "Just making 2s and 3s to track him down is not going to be enough."
Yang had the best opportunity to give chase at McIlroy, but was not overly concerned with the sizable margin when he began his second round.
"If it was a stroke or two strokes or three strokes ahead, then maybe it would have added a lot more pressure for me to try and get close to him, or at least not lengthen or widen the gap," said Yang through an interpreter. "But it being such a big gap in the first place, I just didn't really mind what Rory ended up with. It actually enabled me to concentrate on my own game."
McIlroy has already held leads at each of the four majors, but with this one he is also trying to distance himself from this year's Masters implosion. On Sunday at Augusta National, McIlroy went from first to 15th on the second nine and shot 80.
"I know more than probably anyone else what can happen," he said. "So I've got to stay really focused and try and finish this thing off. "
As for the double bogey on the par-4 18th, he shrugged off the miscue. After missing the fairway to the left with his drive, McIlroy caught rough grass between his club and the ball on his approach shot into the green, and turned the club over. His shot caromed off the left greenside slope into the water, instead of onto the right front portion of the green as he intended.
"I can't dwell on that [double bogey] because I've played 35 good holes," he said.
Given his score and lead, McIlroy was being modest. And Snedeker may have been right: What course is McIlroy playing? Through 36 holes he has hit 71.4 percent of the fairways and missed only four greens in regulation.
"It's funny to me, you know, it feels quite simple," McIlroy said. "I'm hitting fairways. I'm hitting greens. I'm holing my fair share of putts. And that's really been the key."
Four-time major champion Phil Mickelson, who covets winning this championship after five runner-up finishes, witnessed McIlroy's play for 36 holes.
"He's striking it flawlessly and putted great," said Mickelson, who shot a 2-under 69 in McIlroy's pairing and is 1 over for the championship.
Keenly aware of what can transpire in 18 holes, McIlroy will shy away from conservative play in hopes of protecting his wide lead.
"I did a piece after Augusta where I said I needed to be a little more cocky, a little more arrogant on the golf course, and think a little bit more about myself, which I've tried to incorporate a little bit, just on the golf course," he said. "I just try and have a bit of an attitude, you know?"
By the looks of his scoring, McIlroy is not concerned with offending the rest of the field this week.
Snedeker, for one, would not hold a grudge.
"Take the competitor out of me and sure, after what happened to him at the Masters, I would like to see him go ahead and put the nail in the coffin," he said.
