SPORT DADDY NEWS GOLF
Rory McIlroy hit an eight-under-par 64, which included a record-equalling 29 on the back nine, to surge into contention at the Players Championship.
The world number three began the second round on level par but posted five birdies and an eagle in his opening seven holes after starting on the 10th.
Clubhouse leader Shane Lowry (68) is three ahead of McIlroy on 11 under.
World number one Jason Day leads on 14 under with four to play, one of 39 players still to finish after a storm.
Day, 28, picked up five shots in his second round but opted not to finish the 15th hole when play was suspended due to darkness following a two-hour delay due to lightning in the Ponte Vedre area.
McIlroy has played the back nine at Sawgrass in 44 under par since 2013, compared to 12 over par for the front nine.
The 27-year-old was one of the early starters and took advantage of one of his favourites stretches of holes, sinking a 25-foot putt for birdie on the 10th.
He got up and down from a greenside bunker on the par-five 11th, before making it four birdies in a row on the 12th and 13th.
After a first par of the day on the 14th, the four-time major winner holed from six feet on the 15th for birdie.
From 50 feet across the green he eagled the 16th, only to leave another long-range putt just inches short on the par-three 17th island hole.
He managed two further birdies on the front nine and came to the par-five ninth, his final hole, needing a birdie to set a new course record of 62.
But faced with a second shot from 271 yards, the four-time major winner surprisingly opted to lay up and then missed the green from 90 yards with his approach, before fluffing a chip and recording his only bogey of the day.
| Recent Players Championship winners |
|---|
| 2015: R Fowler (US) -12 (won after play-off) |
| 2014: M Kaymer (Ger) -13 |
| 2013: T Woods (US) -13 |
| 2012: M Kuchar (US) -13 |
| 2011: KJ Choi (Kor) -13 |
Lowry also started on the back nine and bogeyed the 14th and birdied the 16th before sending his tee shot into the water on the 17th.
However at the next he holed out from 120 yards for only the sixth eagle in tournament history on the 18th.
Birdies on the second and third, either side of the delay, were followed by another on the fifth to leave the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational champion in contention for a second PGA Tour title.
The cut was projected to fall at two-under, with defending champion Rickie Fowler, one under after a 71, and world number two Jordan Spieth, also at one under after 14 holes, in danger of missing out.
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