Rory McIlroy says he is prepared to take on the elements as well as the rest of the field after establishing a narrow lead at the halfway stage of the Scottish Open on Friday.
The Northern Irishman added a second round of 66 to his opening 64 at the Renaissance Club to be 10 under par, a shot ahead of his Ryder Cup teammate Tyrrell Hatton and South Korea’s Tom Kim.
It was another encouraging display by the 34-year-old McIlroy, who will return next week to the scene of his only Open triumph at Hoylake in 2014 – the last of his four Major wins.
Friday’s round meant that for the fifth time in his PGA Tour career – the event is co-sanctioned with the DP World (European) Tour – McIlroy has started a tournament with two scores of 66 or better.
Four of those previous occasions led to three tournament wins, including his Open success of nine years ago.
“I hit the ball really well tee to green, gave myself a ton of looks [at birdie],” McIlroy said. “Honestly it felt like four under was probably the worst I could have shot out there.
“But you know, it’s swings and roundabouts. I holed a couple of long ones on Thursday to shoot a good score and then missed a couple today, but overall really pleased with how the last two days have went.”
With thunderstorms forecast for Saturday afternoon, tee times have been brought forward by several hours, while winds of up to 40mph (64km/h) are predicted to hit the course on Sunday.
“I don’t really have any expectations,” McIlroy said. “It would be silly of me to try to pick a potential target score to get to. So really just embrace the conditions and just sort of make the best of them.”
As for the Open, he added: “I keep saying that yes, we are all looking forward to next week, but I want to go and win this tournament over the weekend.”
Earlier, Hatton gave himself a chance of a first victory in two-and-a-half years with a second round of 62.
Hatton, asked if the round had been as easy as it looked, replied: “No, it was stressful at times, as most of my rounds are. But I’m very happy with the chances I gave myself.”
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler and three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington are three shots off the lead after rounds of 65 and 66 respectively, with Harrington overcoming wet and windy conditions in the first group out.
“I hit a great drive off my first hole of the day, 80 yards short of where I hit it yesterday,” said Harrington.
“The marshals were a full 50 yards away from where they should have been for the first three, four holes because they had no idea how short the ball was going,” the 51-year-old Irishman added.
Erik van Rooyen is the best placed South African on five under (T17) after firing a second-round 63 that included an eagle and five birdies. Countryman Garrick Higgo is a further shot behind after carding 69 on Friday.
The other South Africans in the field – Oliver Bekker, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Thriston Lawrence, Zander Lombard, Ockie Strydom, Dylan Frittelli and Justin Walters – all missed the cut.
© Agence France-Presse
