FLOURTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Keith Mitchell followed a career-best round with a 3-under 67 on Friday and maintained a one-shot lead after two rounds of the Truist Championship.
Mitchell, who led the way with a 61 on Thursday, offset two bogeys with five birdies, including a three-hole run on Nos. 3-5, for a 12 under total at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course.
One day after 64 of the 72 golfers in the no-cut field broke par in near-perfect weather and scoring conditions, the course was softened by overnight rain and the field dealt with on-and-off showers and temperatures in the 50s Friday. The result: longer irons into Philly Cricket’s modest par 4s and a more difficult 7,100-yard, par-70 test for the sixth signature event of the PGA Tour season.
Shane Lowry was undeterred by the weather and posted a 5-under 65, the lowest round of the day, and was second at 11 under. Sepp Straka (67) was another stroke back.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy shot a 3-under 67 and was part of a large group at 7 under that included Justin Thomas (67), Colin Morikawa (70) and Patrick Cantlay (68).
Mitchell, with one tour victory in 200 events, held the 18-hole lead for the fourth time in his career and the third time this season. While he fell from the top spot over the final rounds in previous events, the 33-year-old showed Friday he has staying power.
He followed bogeys at Nos. 2 and 11 with birdies, and never altered his strategy, just his club selection, by hitting longer irons into the greens.
Lowry, who opened with a 64, birdied four of his first eight holes. After a bogey at the 10th, he bounced back by making a 53-foot birdie putt at No. 11 and closed out the round with another birdie at the 15th.
McIlroy had an uneven round of six birdies and three bogeys while playing in his first individual tournament since completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters last month.
McIlroy hasn’t wavered in his aggressive approach to playing the Wissahickon Course, but on Friday the Northern Irishman’s long-distance success came on the greens. He drained putts from just under 10 feet at 12, close to 29 feet at 14, 17 feet, 4 inches at 15 and nearly 28 feet at 18 — all on his first nine holes. He finished with 126 1/2 feet of putts made.
McIlroy has won three times this season — at Pebble Beach, the Players Championship and Augusta National — and is a four-time champion of this event. He acknowledged that his game needs some fine tuning after taking most of the last two weeks off. He is also preparing for next week’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, where he has won four times.
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