Mitchell shows staying power at
soggy Truist with 2nd-round 67; McIlroy 5 strokes off the lead
[May 10, 2025]
By BOB LENTZ
FLOURTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Keith Mitchell held the first-round lead at
three tournaments earlier this season before falling out of the top
spot. He’s showing staying power at the Truist Championship.
Mitchell followed a career-best round with a 3-under 67 on Friday
and maintained a one-shot lead after two rounds at Philadelphia
Cricket Club's Wissahickon Course.
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.
Shane Lowry was second at 11 under after a 5-under 65, and Sepp
Straka (67) was another stroke back. Defending champion Rory McIlroy
shot a 3-under 67 and was tied in a large group for fourth.
Mitchell said he's feeling more comfortable in the top spot. And it
showed.
“I guess just being a little more comfortable in that position,”
Mitchell said. “Playing well the last couple Thursdays, it’s just I
feel like I’ve been there now three or four times. So trying to just
build off of that and build into Friday, then Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s a four-round tournament. They don’t give any points or money
out on Thursday. So I’ve got to keep it going.”
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.
Lowry was undeterred by the weather and posted the lowest round of
the day, while McIlroy was joined at 7 under by Justin Thomas (67),
Colin Morikawa (70) and Patrick Cantlay (68), among others.
Mitchell was steady throughout, never wavering from his preplanned
strategy on the A.W. Tillinghast design that opened in 1922. He
followed bogeys at Nos. 2 and 11 with birdies and described the
bounce-backs as “huge.”
“If you get going in the wrong direction with momentum on a day like
today, it can really catch you,” he said.
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.
[to top of second column] |
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, hits on the 13th hole during the
second round of the Truist Championship golf tournament at the
Philadelphia Cricket Club, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Flourtown. (AP
Photo/Matt Rourke)
He discounted the notion that he has an advantage
over most players in chilly, damp conditions just because he hails
from Ireland.
“Everyone says that to me every day when it rains,” he said. “I live
in South Florida, and I plan to be there now. ... I think I’m able
to handle them probably better than a few people, but I don’t
particularly like or enjoy going out and playing in these
conditions.”
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.
“I felt like today was another sort of scrappy one,“ McIlroy said.
“I made what I feel are some uncharacteristic mistakes compared to
how I’ve played the majority of the year.
“So, just got to try to iron that out over the next couple of days,
try to shoot a couple of scores without as many bogeys on the card.
If I can do that and just tidy it up a little bit, I feel like I’ll
be in a good spot heading into next week.”
Denny McCarthy, who was one stroke off the lead after the opening
round, fell off the pace and is at 5 under after a second-round 73.
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