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Masters champion Rory McIlroy praised the massive “potential” of the Australian Open for his inspiration to save a near-nightmare missed cut with a champion finish to his second round at Royal Melbourne.
“Absolutely [I’m relieved]; I think it would have been a big downer for everyone involved if I wasn’t here for the weekend,” McIlroy, whose 68 took him to two-under-par and seven shots behind the lead, said.
He made an airswing in the trees on the par-5 14th that led to a bogey and dropped back to one-over-par and one shot outside the cutline. But McIlroy pulled driver out for the tee shot on the tricky short par-4 15th. He almost drove the green and grabbed the first of three birdies over his last four holes.
McIlroy went from staring down an early exit – which would have been a a disaster for the tournament with the world No.2 the clear headline act – to near the contenders heading into the weekend of arguably the biggest Australian Open in the past 30 years.
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (66) and Daniel Rodrigues (64) led at nine-under.
“I needed to play those last four holes the way I did,” McIlroy said. “That was not one of my finer moments on 14. I can’t remember the last time I had a fresh air [swing]. I was trying to get in really low sort of like Seve [Ballesteros], flick it back into play, and I caught a branch on the way down and completely missed the ball.
“The drive on 15 was a big shot because it could have been a turning point one way or another,” the Northern Irishman added. “If I don’t hit that tee shot well, I’m looking at another bogey. I gave myself an easy enough birdie and I played the last few holes pretty well.”
Min Woo Lee holed out for eagle during a 65 that catapulted him to eight-under and shot off off the pace. The crowd favourite used a 9-iron from 176 metres at the par-4 10th at the Composite course and landed it short of the cup before rolling in for a dramatic 2. This year’s Houston Open winner on the PGA Tour Lee ran down the fairway with an aeroplane celebration.
“It was just random and felt good,” Lee said of the celebration. “It was a big crowd, so I was just doing random stuff. [The third and fourth rounds] are going to be unbelievable. If I keep playing like this, it’s very solid golf, I’ll be pretty happy.”
Lee’s playing partner, 2009 Australian Open champion Adam Scott, was seven-under alongside 2022 Open Championship winner Cam Smith (65) and LIV golfer Carlos Ortiz (70).
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McIlroy breathed a sigh of relief at scraping through to weekend rounds, which are expected to near 50,000 fans across two days. McIlroy has the 2013 Australian Open win on his resume and was confident that seven shots adrift was not insurmountable given he is a five-time major champion.
“I don’t feel like I’m that far behind. I certainly haven’t had my best stuff [this week] and I struggled with the speed [of the greens], but I turned it on when I needed to,” McIlroy said. “I’ll go out early tomorrow, hopefully in some good conditions, shoot a low one and get myself back in there. Another two rounds around this place, I think I’m getting a little more comfortable with what to do around here and maybe shots to take on.”
With bumper crowds in the tens of thousands lining the fairways of the Composite course on Friday, McIlroy did not want to miss out on weekend play at a tournament he has publicly praised as one of the most historic and important in world golf. He referenced the other tournaments this week – Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas and the DP World Tour’s Nedbank Challenge in South Africa.
“It’s incredible,” McIlroy said of the atmosphere. “I said to Adam [Scott] walking up the first [hole] it didn’t feel like a Friday afternoon round, it felt like we were going out it the final group on Sunday.
“That scene on the first tee was amazing. Then walking up the last and everyone is still here. I’ve always said it, but that’s the potential this country has to have these really, really big events. The other two events happening in other places of the world have nothing like the atmosphere this tournament has. It has so much potential and it’s great to see so many people come out and support the tournament.”
