Golf:A superb bunker shot to within a foot of the cup at the par-three 16th summed up Rory McIlroy's day as he eked out a gritty victory in the second round of the WGC-Accenture match lay championship with a three and two victory over Denmark's Anders Hansen.
The amiable world number two produced crucial up-and-downs when he needed them to beat Hansen at Dove Mountain’s Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. The US Open champion McIlroy, who would depose fellow England’s Luke Donald from the top of the world rankings were he to win the match play title.
McIlroy was happy enough with the victory if not completely enthused by the manner of his performance. “It was a decent match,” said the 22-year-old Northern Ireland golfer, who never trailed and sealed the win with his up-and-down for par at the 16th.
“We both didn’t have our best stuff with us. I needed to grind out a few pars, and I won a few holes with pars. I was pretty fortunate to get up-and-downs on 15 and 16 to close the game out. I’m just happy to be through to the third round.” There he will face Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, conqueror of American Keegan Bradley.
McIlroy continued: “I’m confident that I can hang in there. I’ve hit a few loose shots, but to play the way I have the first two days and get through two matches gives me a little bit of confidence. I still need to go to the range and do some work, but I’m just happy to be through to the third round.
“I’m driving the ball long, and for the most part I’m finding the fairways. I missed a few iron shots left, so I’m going to go work a little bit to try and straighten that out.”
Asked about the prospect of becoming world number one for the first time, he replied: “Everyone keeps telling me, so it’s hard to put it out of my mind. It’s a little bit of extra motivation this week knowing that if I can get through four more matches, I could go to the top of the world rankings which is obviously a huge moment for my career.”
“I set myself a goal this week just to try to make the weekend for a start,” said the 22-year-old, whose best in the tournament was a quarter-final loss to Australian Geoff Ogilvy in 2009. “I have still got one match to go until I get to the weekend and hopefully I’m able to get through.”
