McIlroy takes six shot lead into third round

By Brendon Hanley Jun 18, 2011, 0:22 GMT

Bethesda, Maryland - Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy will take a six-shot lead into the third round of the US Open after carding a five-under 66 in Friday's second round.

McIlroy again tore through the course at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda in Maryland as he finished the day on 11-under for the tournament.

South Korean YE Yang, who won the PGA Championship in 2009, is second on five-under for the tournament, while a group of six players, including Sergio Garcia, Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson are on two-under.

McIlroy on Friday broke several US Open records: First, claiming the fastest-ever 10-under score at the competition, then becoming the first player to go to 13-under and finishing off with the best score at the end of the second round by two-shots.

The 22-year-old's 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.

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 - becoming the only person to have achieved that distinction during the second round.

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.

Yang hit two bogeys and four birdies in his round of 69, while German Marcel Siem, who looked likely to miss the cut at the beginning of the round, was the only player to equal McIlroy's score of 66, which included seven birdies and two bogeys.

After a 79 in the opening round, Siem's 66 took him to three-over and the German, who was one of several players who faced an hour-long interruption because of a thunderstorm, said that the spectators helped him a lot.

'The spectators like my long drive, so they cheered me up a bit, and all of a sudden the puts were dropping, and I played pretty solid until the interruption for the thunderstorm, when I lost my rhythm after that.'

Amongst the players who were expected to miss the cut were former US Open champions South African Ernie Els and Argentine Angel Cabrera, as well as Americans Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan.