<p>Rory McIlroy, helped by composed shot-making and a stunning eagle on his ninth hole of the day, soared one stroke clear in the weather-hit second round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Friday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The British Open champion, in pursuit of a third consecutive victory on the PGA Tour, fired a four-under-par 67 on a wet, ultra-long Valhalla layout where play was suspended for 45 minutes earlier in the day due to water-logged conditions.<br /><br />McIlroy, the pre-tournament favorite heading into the year's final major, holed an uphill 30-foot putt from just off the green to eagle the par-five 18th and also recorded four birdies and two bogeys to post a nine-under total of 133.<br /><br />Four-times winner Tiger Woods, however, ended a miserable week prematurely when he missed the cut at a major for only the fourth time as a professional, looking tournament rusty in both rounds as he carded successive 74s.<br /><br />McIlroy squandered a golden opportunity to add another eagle at the par-five seventh, where he hit a brilliant second shot from 243 yards to eight feet before missing the putt, but signed off with a birdie at the ninth where he drained a 16-footer.<br /><br />"I played well for the most part," world number one McIlroy told reporters after moving a step closer to winning the fourth major title of his career. "Scored really well. Some key up-and-downs to keep the momentum going in the round.<br /><br />"I'm very pleased. I'm in a great position going into the weekend in another major championship. Can't ask for much more. I'm confident, and I'm just on a good run.<br />“You've seen before when I got on good runs like this, I can sort of keep it going for a little while," said the Northern Irishman, who won last month's British Open before clinching the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last Sunday in his next start.<br /><br />McIlroy ended his round one ahead of Australian Jason Day, who fired a best-of-the-day 65, and veteran American Jim Furyk (68). Americans Rickie Fowler (66) and Ryan Palmer (70), and Finland's Mikko Ilonen (68) were a further stroke back.<br /><br />Five-times major winner Phil Mickelson (67) was next best on a high-quality leaderboard, level at six under with Austrian Bernd Wiesberger (68).<br /><br />England's former world number one Lee Westwood (72), fourth-ranked Swede Henrik Stenson (71) and American Steve Stricker (68) were among a group of seven players knotted at five under.<br /><br />Also missing the cut along with Woods were US Open champion Martin Kaymer of Germany and triple major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland.<br /><br />Lahiri misses cut<br /><br />Meanwhile, India’s Anirban Lahiri gave it all, but it was not enough to keep him for the weekend as he missed the cut by a fair margin.<br /><br />Lahiri added a second round 73 to the 72 he had on Thursday to get to three-over 145 but the cut was applied at one-over.<br /><br />Lahiri admitted making far too many mistakes and was also clearly somewhat rusty as he was still recovering from chicken pox after the British Open three weeks ago.<br />“That’s no excuse. Yes, I have not been 100 per cent but even then I should have played much better. I made far too many mistakes. Five bogeys in a round is way too many,” he said. <br /></p>
<p>Rory McIlroy, helped by composed shot-making and a stunning eagle on his ninth hole of the day, soared one stroke clear in the weather-hit second round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Friday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The British Open champion, in pursuit of a third consecutive victory on the PGA Tour, fired a four-under-par 67 on a wet, ultra-long Valhalla layout where play was suspended for 45 minutes earlier in the day due to water-logged conditions.<br /><br />McIlroy, the pre-tournament favorite heading into the year's final major, holed an uphill 30-foot putt from just off the green to eagle the par-five 18th and also recorded four birdies and two bogeys to post a nine-under total of 133.<br /><br />Four-times winner Tiger Woods, however, ended a miserable week prematurely when he missed the cut at a major for only the fourth time as a professional, looking tournament rusty in both rounds as he carded successive 74s.<br /><br />McIlroy squandered a golden opportunity to add another eagle at the par-five seventh, where he hit a brilliant second shot from 243 yards to eight feet before missing the putt, but signed off with a birdie at the ninth where he drained a 16-footer.<br /><br />"I played well for the most part," world number one McIlroy told reporters after moving a step closer to winning the fourth major title of his career. "Scored really well. Some key up-and-downs to keep the momentum going in the round.<br /><br />"I'm very pleased. I'm in a great position going into the weekend in another major championship. Can't ask for much more. I'm confident, and I'm just on a good run.<br />“You've seen before when I got on good runs like this, I can sort of keep it going for a little while," said the Northern Irishman, who won last month's British Open before clinching the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last Sunday in his next start.<br /><br />McIlroy ended his round one ahead of Australian Jason Day, who fired a best-of-the-day 65, and veteran American Jim Furyk (68). Americans Rickie Fowler (66) and Ryan Palmer (70), and Finland's Mikko Ilonen (68) were a further stroke back.<br /><br />Five-times major winner Phil Mickelson (67) was next best on a high-quality leaderboard, level at six under with Austrian Bernd Wiesberger (68).<br /><br />England's former world number one Lee Westwood (72), fourth-ranked Swede Henrik Stenson (71) and American Steve Stricker (68) were among a group of seven players knotted at five under.<br /><br />Also missing the cut along with Woods were US Open champion Martin Kaymer of Germany and triple major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland.<br /><br />Lahiri misses cut<br /><br />Meanwhile, India’s Anirban Lahiri gave it all, but it was not enough to keep him for the weekend as he missed the cut by a fair margin.<br /><br />Lahiri added a second round 73 to the 72 he had on Thursday to get to three-over 145 but the cut was applied at one-over.<br /><br />Lahiri admitted making far too many mistakes and was also clearly somewhat rusty as he was still recovering from chicken pox after the British Open three weeks ago.<br />“That’s no excuse. Yes, I have not been 100 per cent but even then I should have played much better. I made far too many mistakes. Five bogeys in a round is way too many,” he said. <br /></p>