Time for Rory McIlroy to finally close the deal at Players Championship

After several near-misses already in 2019, Rory McIlroy finds himself tied with Tommy Fleetwood heading to weekend at Players Championship

After nearly a decade as one of the top players on the PGA Tour, it would be hard for Rory McIlroy to find a way to improve. Somehow he’s managed to do just that, and the 29-year-old Northern Irishman has never looked better than he has this week at the Players Championship.

McIlroy shot seven-under 65 on Friday in the second round at TPC Sawgrass, taking a share of the 36-hole lead with Tommy Fleetwood. His 12-under total through two rounds ties his career-best; he went on to win the previous three times.

Winning is something that’s eluded McIlroy recently, however. He hasn’t won since the Arnold Palmer Invitational last March. So far in 2019 he’s put himself in position to end that drought every week but has yet to breakthrough. McIlroy has finished in the top-six in all five events he’s played this year, including a runner-up finish at the WGC-Mexico Championship. Getting into contention on Sunday hasn’t been his problem, though. It’s closing the deal. McIlroy is 0-9 in the past year playing in the last group on Sunday.

McIlroy will get another opportunity this weekend at the Players. He began his round on Friday with his first bogey of the tournament, but rebounded with a birdie at the par-five second hole. He added two more birdies at the turn, then hit his approach at the 10th to three feet to set up his third straight birdie. At the par-five 16th his approach from 224 yards settled within 10 feet, leading to an eagle to get within one shot of leader Fleetwood. He then holed a 21-foot putt at the par-three 17th “Island Green” to tie Fleetwood.

The highlight of his round, however, came on a hole he didn’t manage to birdie. His drive at the finishing hole ran through the fairway and onto the pine straw. Blocked from a direct line to the green by an overhanging tree, McIlroy opened up his pitching wedge and cut a shot through the tree to within 20 feet. While he missed the putt, the shot showed the mastery over the ball McIlroy had on Friday.

“I felt comfortable with it,” he said after his round. “Harry [Diamond, McIlroy’s caddie] was trying to talk me out of it, and I stepped over it a couple of times like, ‘No, I think I can do this. I opened up a wedge as much as I could and just took a swipe at it. The ball sort of came out like I thought it would.”

McIlroy’s game has been in top form not just this week, but throughout all of 2019. He leads the PGA Tour this season in strokes gained: off the tee, tee-to-green, and total strokes gained. This week he is nearly two shots better than the field tee-to-green. He hasn’t shot over-par in his last 13 rounds dating back to the first round of the Genesis Open in February.

Despite not converting any of his opportunities into a victory yet, McIlroy admits he’s pleased with where his game is and says the wins will eventually come if he keeps doing the little things well.

“I just need to keep seeing red numbers. That’s all I need to keep seeing. I don’t need a win. I’m not putting myself under pressure,” he said. “Winning is a byproduct of doing all the things that I’m doing well. If i just focus on winning, you know, what goes into that? Yes, that’s the end goal, but there are so many different little goals that you need to accomplish to get to that point.”

His playing partner in the final round on Saturday is a man who’s also used to finding himself atop the leaderboard recently. A week ago at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Fleetwood led after the second round before eventually finishing in a tie for third. This week he shared the lead with Keegan Bradley after a 65 on Thursday, and now shares the lead again with McIlroy heading to the weekend.

Fleetwood’s second round was punctuated by a hole-out eagle from a greenside bunker at the second. He finished with a birdie at 18 to shoot 67 to join McIlroy at 12-under. Like McIlroy, Fleetwood could also use a win to reward his solid form as of late. The Englishman who rose to fame as part of Team “Moliwood” at the Ryder Cup last September has never won in his PGA Tour career.

McIlroy and Fleetwood are three shots ahead of the rest of the field. Ian Poulter, Brian Harman, Abraham Ancer and 48-year-old Jim Furyk are all tied for third place at nine-under.

The leaders tee off for the third round on Saturday at 2:40 p.m. EST.