McIlroy and Lowry Trail Zurich Classic Leaders by Six Shots
Zurich Classic - scores from round two
-17 I Salinda & K Velo (US); -16 G. Griffin & N. Novak (USA) -15 R. Hojgaard & N. Hojgaard (Den) -14 J Bridgeman & C Phillips (USA)
Selected: -13 D. Skinns & B. Taylor (Eng) -12 A Rai & S Theegala (English/United States) -11 R McIlroy & S Lowry (NI/Ire), R MacIntyre & T Detry (Scotland/Belgium)
Missed cut: -9 M Fitzpatrick & A Fitzpatrick (Eng) -8 C Morikawa & K Kitayama (USA), M Wallace & T Olesen (England/Denmark) -5 D L Donald & C Villegas (Eng/Col)
Full leaderboard
The defending champions Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry stayed six behind the leaders as they dropped three shots towards the end of the second round at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans.
The pair from Ireland, seeking to be the first players to win back-to-back titles, found themselves trailing by six strokes at the start of the day after posting an eight-under-par score of 64 in the four-ball round on Thursday.
After starting strong with their first 12 holes on Friday, finishing six under par during the foursome event, they seemed likely to close the gap with the front-runners. However, they faltered towards the end of their round, recording bogeys at both their last two holes, which resulted in a scorecard showing a 69.
American newcomers Kevin Velo and Isaiah Salinda maintained their leading position following a score of 69.
"Through the first 12 holes, we were six under par and doing well, until things took a turn for the worse at the end. However, I felt our performance wasn’t poor enough to warrant such a disappointing conclusion," stated McIlroy, who was participating in his inaugural tournament following his victory at the Masters, which secured him a career Grand Slam two weeks prior.
Few scattered random shots.
Fourballs format on Saturday
McIlroy made an 11-foot eagle putt at the second hole and added four more birdies, placing the Irish pair in a tie for second position with a total score of 14 under par through 12 holes.
However, McIlroy missed the green with his approach on 13 as they dropped a stroke and further shots went at the last two holes when they were unable to find the greens in regulation.
The Saturday match will return to the fourball format prior to Sunday's foursomes final.
"The challenge tomorrow lies in maintaining patience since the four-ball format requires attempting to score as many birdies as possible," said the Masters winner.
Velo and Salinda are ahead of their American teammates Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak by one stroke, followed closely by Danish twin brothers Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard who trail them by another shot.
David Skinns and Ben Taylor from England are tied for fifth place, just four strokes behind the leader, following their round of 67 on Friday. They trail Aaron Rai from Scotland and American player Sahith Theegala by only one stroke.
Robert MacIntyre from Scotland and his Belgian partner Thomas Detry are tied for 16th position in the leaderboard with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry following their round of 69 on Friday.
In the fourball format, each player hits their own ball, and the lower of the two scores counts towards the team’s total. Conversely, in foursomes, players use only one ball but take turns hitting alternating strokes.
