Rory McIlroy to 'keep grinding away' after Valero Texas Open second-round 70

​Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is ready to ‘keep grinding away’ as he sits six shots off the Valero Texas Open lead after 36 holes.
By Patrick Van Dort
Published 5th Apr 2024, 23:40 BST
Updated 6th Apr 2024, 00:37 BST
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy plays his tee shot from the fourth hole during the second round of the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio. (Photo by Raj Mehta/Getty Images).Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy plays his tee shot from the fourth hole during the second round of the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio. (Photo by Raj Mehta/Getty Images).
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy plays his tee shot from the fourth hole during the second round of the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio. (Photo by Raj Mehta/Getty Images).

​McIlroy followed up his opening 69 round at TPC San Antonio with a 70 across Friday’s play as Akshay Bhatia enjoyed top spot on 11 under.

A bogey-free opening round handed McIlroy some early encouragement and he posted birdies on the 10th, 18th and fifth holes yesterday.

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“Yeah, just keep grinding away,” McIlroy was quoted on the NBC Sports website. “I’ve only made one bogey over two days, which I’m really pleased with.

"Would have been nice to make a few more birdies, but pretty happy with the last two days.”

McIlroy was listed first in the field over strokes gained on his way to a position inside the top five by the close of his second round.

“I’ve only made one bogey in the last two days,” he continued. “So that’s much better than what I showed through the Florida swing and that’s really been the reason for the work over the last two weeks...to try to eradicate the big misses and try to keep the ball more in front of me instead of off to the side.

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“Over the last two days I’ve done that pretty well and hopefully keep doing that over the weekend.”

He added with regards to his approach: “I guess I just stayed patient and tried to play pretty smart golf.

"The wind was up a little bit for the start of the round yesterday (Thursday) then it died on the back nine.

"But it was pretty much up from the get-go today...so just trying to keep the ball in play off the tee, trying to get yourself some good looks.

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"It was hard to make a ton of birdies out there today so just staying patient and, yeah, not getting too frustrated that you weren’t getting the ball too close or weren’t making a ton of birdies but, overall, still a solid round of golf.

"I’d like to see a few of those iron shots and wedges go a little bit closer.

"As I said last night, the miss has gone from left the last few weeks to a little bit to the right now which I’m okay with...it means what I’m working on is heading in the right direction. Then I missed a few putts from inside 12 feet as well (so) try to tidy that up.”

Related topics:Rory McIlroyNorthern IrelandFlorida