LA JOLLA, Calif. — Nothing would please CBS Sports activities executives and PGA Tour brass greater than a last group that includes Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, the 2 finest gamers on the earth. Golf followers would like it 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 last group alongside Davis Thompson, the 36-hole chief who’s 8-under general. 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 pictures, I performed nicely for probably the most half, I scrambled nicely,” McIlroy mentioned of his second spherical.
“I simply didn’t benefit from 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 must play the par 5s higher.”
If McIlroy can capitalize on the par 5s on Saturday, he ought to be within the last group on Sunday. McIlroy is enjoying nicely, simply as he did when he received at Pebble Seaside, despite the fact that he has birdied solely three of the eight par-5s up to now 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 quick sport.
“I’m fairly glad with how I scored immediately,” 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 immediately, however did a superb job of muscling some pictures up there on the inexperienced and getting up and down after 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 usually.
“That was a superb instance of lacking on the proper aspect,” Scheffler mentioned of his shot on the sixth.
“I hit two actually good pictures 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 last pairing on Sunday. Each gamers have some work to do on Saturday to make that occur, but when they’ll, your entire {golfing} world can be in for a deal with at Torrey Pines, a U.S. Open course that checks the world’s finest 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 workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By means of. Observe him on X @jack_milko.
