McIlroy on fire as he makes history

Jun 17, 2011, 18:51 GMT

Bethesda, Maryland - Young Irish golfer Rory McIlroy on Friday made history in the second round of the US Open by being the fastest to go to 10-under.

McIlroy also became the first player to reach 13-under and the first to be on 11-under after two rounds.

McIlroy closed out the day with a five-under 66 to take him to 11-under for the tournament, and even though well over two thirds of the players are still on the course or have not yet started their second round, all of the odds are for McIlroy taking a comfortable lead into Saturday's third round.

The 22-year-old, whose only mistake in two rounds of golf came on the final hole, when he put his second shot into the water and played a double bogey six, has a commanding nine shot lead from South Korean YE Yang.

McIlroy, who went into the second round on six-under, birdied the par-four fourth at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, followed that up with another birdie on the par-five sixth and then eagled the par-four eighth with a long iron shot to move to ten under after just 26 holes.

He went on to birdie the 14th, 16th and 17th holes to move to 13-under before coming unstuck on the 523-yard final hole, which is the second-longest par-four hole ever at the US Open

McIlroy was not too disappointed with his last hole. 'I played 35 very, very good golf holes the first two rounds. My preparations have just been very good. I feel comfortable with my game and I feel comfortable with the course.

'At the start of the day that was my goal, to get into double digits. Once I got to 10-under I had to reassess and see if I could get to 12.

'It's been a great couple of days and now par golf could be good enough. I just have to go out there and play as I have been,' he said.

Playing with McIlroy, Phil Mickelson was looking strong on four-under to claw his way back to one-under for the tournament, but like his playing partner, he played his second on the final hole into the water and also finished with a double bogey.

Of the early starters in the clubhouse, amateur Patrick Cantlay and Bo van Pelt both carded a four-under 67.

Statisticians said that previously no player had managed to go 10-under in the second round and the previous best at the end of the second round was nine-under.

The first player to reach 10-under at the Open was Gil Morgan, who birdied the third in the third round in 1992 and then was on 12-under by the seventh hole, but then fell apart and finished the day on four-under.

He bombed out in the final round when he played an 81 to finish the tournament on five-over and tied for 13th place - and that will probably be as much a warning to McIlroy as is his own final round at the Masters in April, when he went into the final round with a four shot lead, but finished ten off the pace after an 80.

McIlroy's Northern Ireland compatriot Graeme McDowell, however, said that the way McIlroy was playing, it would be very difficult to catch him. 'It seems we are all playing for second place. He is making it look easy out there,' the defending champion said.