Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy eagled the 18th hole to earn a 2–up win over Denny McCarthy in the second round of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play on Thursday, March 23, in Austin, Texas.
With the Group 3 match all square through 17 holes at Austin Country Club, McIlroy bashed a drive onto the green on the par-4, 375-yard closing hole, leaving himself a 4-foot eagle putt. McCarthy couldn’t keep up, as his 59-yard approach shot landed 7 feet from the hole, giving him a birdie that wasn’t enough.
“I certainly didn’t expect to fly it on the green,” McIlroy said. “It’s almost one of those, when it’s that far much downwind, it’s almost like I could have hit a 3-wood to get the down slope to get the skid. I was imagining the driver was going to land into the upslope and sort of stay 10, 20 yards short. But as I said, I didn’t imagine I could fly it on the green.”…