Rory McIlroy hails 'amazing' Irish Open crowds as he reflects on second round
Rory McIlroy hailed the "amazing" crowds following him at Royal County Down as he moved to the head of the leaderboard at the Irish Open on Friday.
McIlroy's one-under-par round of 70 leaves him on -04 for the tournament, just one shot behind clubhouse leader Laurie Canter.
It probably should have been better for McIlroy, who missed a number of putts during favourable early morning conditions.
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But he managed to overcome more testing conditions in his final few holes to sit in prime position heading into the weekend.
He told Sky Sports: "The conditions were pretty benign for the first 11 or 12 holes. I felt like I could have done a little more to take advantage of them.
"But once the sun went away, it got a bit colder again and the wind picked up. And those last few holes were playing more difficult, and I felt like I played pretty good on the way in.
"I dropped one shot, but it is another under par round. So I am pretty pleased with that.
"It was baltic this morning, pretty calm. I felt like the course was there for the taking a little bit this morning. We started on the back nine, too, which has two par fives and a drivable par 4. So to only play the back nine in even par was disappointing.
"But I got an eagle at one which made me feel a little bit better, and played pretty solid on the way in. I feel I left a couple of shots out there but I am still in a pretty good position heading into the weekend."
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Reflecting on the thousands of fans attending this week's tournament at Royal County Down, McIlroy admitted it was "fun" playing in such an atmosphere.
He also had praise for playing partner and fellow Holywood golfer Tom McKibbin who secured his spot for the weekend with a battling round of two-under-par, and one-over for the tournament.
"It has been amazing. I felt the crowds today were maybe a little bigger than yesterday," McIlroy said.
"It was a great. It is always fun to play in an atmosphere like that.
"It was great to see Tom play well today, shoot a couple under and play himself into the weekend. And he isn't too far out of it either, depending on the scores this afternoon.
"So it was fun to play with Tom and see him play well, and I think we are both looking forward to a good weekend."
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