ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — The cheers from every corner of the Old Course that belonged to Tiger Woods for two days at St. Andrews shifted to Rory McIlroy at The Open, and he certainly did his part to give them what they came to see on Saturday.
McIlroy hit a bunker shot for eagle on the 10th hole, which he described as part skill and part luck, but it was pure magic. He showed discipline to know when to aim away from the flag and get bogey when he was stuck between a wall and a fairway behind the 17th green.
McIlroy now shares the stage at the home of golf with Viktor Hovland, the rising Norwegian star who has been just as good at making birdies and avoiding the blunders that have cost so many other potential contenders.
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Both birdied the final hole for a 6-under 66. No one else was closer than four shots. They have the same score at 16-under 200, although the support is one-sided.
“They are chanting his name there. I think he’s definitely a crowd favorite,” said Masters champion Scotty Scheffler. “How can you not root for Rory?”
McIlroy is one round away from ending eight long years without a major. He wants to stay in his world, ignoring the support that is showered on him.
“I think I also appreciate the moment and appreciate the fact that it’s incredibly cool to have a chance to win The Open at St Andrews,” McIlroy said. “This is what dreams are made of. And tomorrow I will try to make a dream come true.”
Hovland, who now has six world wins in his four years since leaving Oklahoma State as the US Amateur champion, can appreciate the support for McIlroy and all he has done. He played flawlessly and sounded like he was up to the task.
“I’m going up against one of the best players in the world and I’m certainly not going to hold back because he certainly isn’t,” Hovland said.
It wasn’t a two-man race, even if it looked like it when the Old Course emptied and the bagpipes started rolling at the end of the day.
Cameron Smith, who started with a two-shot lead, took a double bogey on the 13th hole when he tried a daring footwork in a pot bunker. Cameron Young birdied the 16th green and then came back down the other side for a double bogey on the 16th hole.
They trailed by four shots, still in the game. Two-time major champion Dustin Johnson, the top contender in the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League to claim this major, putted over the green and into a bunker for one of three bogeys on the back nine. He trailed by six shots.
McIlroy and Hovland had no such problems.
Hovland hit a pair of 40-foot putts on his way to four straight birdies on the front nine to take the lead. McIlroy finally got it, chipping out of a pot bunker about 80 feet for eagle on the 10th hole, setting off a roar that could be heard all the way back to the Royal & Ancient clubhouse.
McIlroy just a day earlier tipped his hat to Woods as he began his second round, and Woods was about to miss the cut, crossing the Swilcan Bridge for what might have been the last time. The R&A set the start times this way to get past.
Woods stands alone in driving the sport, although McIlroy is the world’s most popular, and it sounded like it – on the first tee, when McIlroy was introduced, for every birdie and when he took the lead for the first time with a birdie at the 14th.
“I love that I have so much support,” McIlroy said. “But at the same time I have to stay in my own little world and try to play good golf. We hope that is enough.”
His only mistake was going left uneven and over the 17th green, across the fairway and near the stone wall. He played a safe putt on the green and bogeyed twice.
Hovland, with no bogeys for the round, showed some magic of his own on the 17th, deflecting the fairway just short of the fairway, up the hill to about 5 feet for par.
“I’ve never been in a bigger place in my career,” Hovland said. He was up to the task, and the popular Norwegian also saw – and heard – what he will face on Sunday.
“I’ve got a couple there,” he said of the cheers so heavily tilted toward McIlroy. “I’m probably an outsider, but I don’t mind that at all. Hopefully we will be able to impose ourselves tomorrow.”
Smith missed a short birdie chance on the 18th and had a 73. His biggest mistake was not putting the ball back in play on the 13th, instead trying to move it forward and into tight spots. He also three-putted from 30 feet to start his round and made just two birdies.
Young, the PGA Tour rookie who finished one stroke out of a playoff at the PGA Championship two months ago, had a 71.
Scheffler was lurking after a 69. He missed a 10-foot birdie chance at the 16th and then three-putted the 17th for bogey. Scheffler, who finished one stroke back at the US Open, had a 69 and was five back with Si Woo Kim (67).
Johnson also within three shots for bogey at the 13th and another at the par-5 14th, where his long eagle putt raced up a hill, over the green and into a pot bunker. Instead of birdie, he had to fight for bogey. He dropped two more shots to card a 71 and trail by six.
McIlroy last won a major in 2014 at the PGA Championship at Valhalla. He would like nothing more than to win at the home of golf, the Old Course, where Jack Nicklaus once said a player’s career would not be complete without winning a tee at St. Andrews.
“Every part of my game felt good this week,” McIlroy said. “I just have to take it one more day.”
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