LA JOLLA, Calif. — Nothing would please CBS Sports activities executives and PGA Tour brass greater than a closing group that includes Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, the 2 greatest gamers on the planet. Golf followers would find it irresistible too.
That dream nearly turned a actuality on Saturday at Torrey Pines as Scheffler and McIlroy made strikes up the leaderboard throughout Friday’s second spherical.
However Scheffler, who’s in solo second at 7-under, will go off within the closing group alongside Davis Thompson, the 36-hole chief who’s 8-under total. Thompson fired a 6-under 66 on Friday, matching the bottom spherical of the day. Ludvig Åberg additionally fired a 66, whereas Scheffler might solely muster a 5-under 67.
McIlroy, in the meantime, is in solo fourth at 5-under. The Northern Irishman, like Scheffler, shot a 67 on Friday. He’ll play alongside Denny McCarthy, who birdied the par-5 ninth gap on Friday to get to 6-under for the championship.
“I hit lots of actually good photographs, I performed nicely for probably the most half, I scrambled nicely,” McIlroy mentioned of his second spherical.
“I simply didn’t make the most of the par 5s; I solely made one birdie on 9, hit it within the fairway on 6 and didn’t make birdie, after which I didn’t birdie the 2 par 5s on the again 9. Look, I made up for it in different places, which was good, however I do know going into the weekend, I’m going to need to play the par 5s higher.”
If McIlroy can capitalize on the par 5s on Saturday, he needs to be within the closing group on Sunday. McIlroy is taking part in nicely, simply as he did when he gained at Pebble Seaside, though he has birdied solely three of the eight par-5s to this point this week.
Scheffler, then again, hopes to straighten out his driver over the weekend. He missed 9 fairways for the second straight day on Friday. But he has made solely two bogies, a testomony to his unimaginable iron play and brief recreation.
“I’m fairly glad with how I scored as we speak,” Scheffler mentioned.
“I didn’t drive the ball in addition to I’d have hoped to, I felt like I used to be out of place so much as we speak, however did an excellent job of muscling some photographs up there on the inexperienced and getting up and down once I wanted to as nicely.”
The spotlight of Scheffler’s day got here on the par-5 sixth gap, the place he holed out from the bunker for an eagle three. That shot leapfrogged him to 7-under for the championship and right into a share of the lead, a place the place he has discovered himself all too typically.
“That was an excellent instance of lacking on the right facet,” Scheffler mentioned of his shot on the sixth.
“I hit two actually good photographs to get there, and so I hit a pleasant bunker shot there; I used to be lucky to see the ball go in.”
Simply as Scheffler was lucky to see his ball trickle in for an eagle, golf followers could be fortunate to see him and McIlroy play collectively within the closing pairing on Sunday. Each gamers have some work to do on Saturday to make that occur, but when they will, all the {golfing} world will likely be in for a deal with at Torrey Pines, a U.S. Open course that checks the world’s greatest and brings out solely the best.
Scheffler and McIlroy going head-to-head at Torrey? Everybody would join that appointment viewing. Hopefully, it occurs.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By means of. Comply with him on X @jack_milko.
