Rory McIlroy trails Xander Schauffele by four heading into the weekend at Quail Hollow
Placing was in affect for a second day in a row due to wet conditions. There was no halfway cut at Quail Hollow and all 69 players will participate on Saturday & Sunday. A great opportunity for a big-time player to make a statement win especially with both Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Aberg not in attendance. The potential storms didn’t happen which meant round two was able to complete on time.
18 hole leader -7 Xander Schauffele played the second round with defending champion Wyndham Clark and Shane Lowry. Schauffele finished the front nine with three birdies in five holes to reach -10. Rory McIlroy -4 played the second round with Tom Kim & Max Homa. McIlroy, Kim and Homa started their round on the 10th hole. McIlroy got off to a perfect start with a birdie at the 10th hole to reach -5. The Northern Irishman advanced to -6 due to a birdie at the 15th hole.
2021 Olympic Gold Medallist stretched his lead at the top to six shots due to birdies at 10 and 13. McIlroy -6 was Schauffele’s nearest challenger and the Northern Irishman broke his 10 hole par streak at eight to get within five shots of leader. Schauffele gave the chasing pack encouragement as he failed to achieve a birdie at drivable par four 14th and reachable par five 15th. Three-time Wells Fargo Championship winner shot an impressive bogey free round of 68 to finish -7.
Schauffele managed to escape 16 and 17 without dropping a shot but was unsuccessful in finishing his round with a par. Schauffele shot a round of 67 and will take a four-shot lead on -11 into Saturday. McIlroy is in a tie for second on -7 with 2015 PGA Championship winner Jason Day. Sungjae Im and Taylor Moore are a further shot back on -6. Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa -4 shot a round of 70 and will head into Saturday six behind Schauffele.
Seamus Power +1 shot a round of 71 to remain over par. The highlight of Lowry’s round was a birdie at 13 and will head into Saturday +4. Leona Maguire -6 had a disappointing round of 76 at Cognizant Founders Cup. Maguire -2 made the halfway cut but is 11 shots behind -13 leader Madalene Sagstrom. At the Champions Tour Regions Tradition Padraig Harrington -7 shot a steady round of 70. Harrington is currently -9 and is three shots behind 36 hole -12 leader Steve Stricker.