image source, andrew reddington
Rory McIlroy believes he can still challenge for victory at the Masters despite a disappointing 77 in the second round at Augusta, leaving him 10 strokes behind the leader at 4 over par.
The world No. 2 struggled in swirling winds on Friday and was unable to improve on his opening 71st place finish.
“Hopefully I'll be in a little bit better shape Saturday,” McIlroy said.
“I still believe if I hit a low round and get a red number, I have a half chance going into Sunday.”
He added: “I won from 10 in Dubai earlier this year, but obviously the Dubai Desert Classic and the Masters are completely different golf tournaments.”
McIlroy was just six shots behind the leader at the end of Thursday's opening round, but is now tied for 35th, well behind American pacesetters Max Homa, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau. are doing.
The Northern Irishman suffered bogeys at Nos. 5 and 7, but hit a damaging double bogey on the 11th, falling into the water.
“It was a tough day, a really tough day. It's hard to score and just try to get as many pars as possible,” McIlroy said.
“I felt like it went well. I had a bogey on the 14th, but I just made par on the last four holes and went back to the clubhouse and teed up tomorrow (Saturday). I'm pretty happy with that.”[Saturday[I'mprettyhappywiththat[Saturday[I’mprettyhappywiththat
“It was very difficult to score. It was just one of those days. Most of the field wasn't moving, so you just tried to hang in there as hard as you could.”
“Mentally it's tough. You have to give your best to the shot you're trying to play and hit it at the right time, which is quite difficult.
McIlroy's group was a late starter on the second day, and the round lasted six hours and two minutes.
“It felt like a long time. The last six or seven holes, especially the 11th, just felt like I had a bad swing just waiting. It felt like it took about an hour to play.”
“It was stop and start. It was difficult to get into a rhythm in these conditions and we obviously played slow.”
