McIlroy pulls ahead at CJ Cup, return to No. 1 in view

RIDGELAND, S.C. (AP) — Rory McIlroy made two eagles that made the rest of his day feel better Saturday at the CJ Cup in South Carolina. His 4-under 67 was enough for a one-shot lead and a clear road to return to No. 1 in the world.

McIlroy hit a 6-iron that took the slope and rolled out to 2 feet for eagle on the par-5 fourth. He smashed a 376-yard drive and made his second eagle with a 30-foot putt from the tightly mown grass off the green on the par-5 12th.

The rest of the round was even par, a mix of good birdies and sloppy bogeys, and it added to a one-shot lead over Jon Rahm, Kurt Kitayama and K.H. Lee.

“You take away those two holes and I was even par for the rest of the round. Felt like it was a little scrappy coming in, but did enough to hang in there and shoot a solid score,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy was at 13-under 200, with hopes set on going back to No. 1 in the world for the ninth time in his career, and first time since the summer of 2020.

Having been there, all he said he truly cared about was winning.

Ditto for Rahm, who had to scrap his way through a series of bogeys for a 70. Rahm started the second round tied for the lead. He was five shots behind when McIlroy made his eagle on No. 12.

But the big Spaniard was solid as Gibraltar coming in at Congaree, picking off birdies with two good bunker shots and making a great escape for par on the 16th, where he purposely took free relief into the trees because of a tiny gap.

“A lot of battle today. I'm proud of it,” Rahm said. “I'm standing on 12 tee ... I thought things could get ugly. But I just stayed on my own game and tried to make some birdies coming in and put myself in position for tomorrow.”

His only disappointment was not getting into the final group