“I can't believe I'm five back” - Rory McIlroy is surprised to be in contention for the PGA Championship 2023

Rory McIlroy ended Day 2 of the PGA Championship 2023 sitting T10 on the leaderboard. The ace golfer seemed more shocked than relieved that he is still in contention for the major. The golfer admitted his surprise at still being ‘only five back’ after round 2.

McIlroy has won the Wanamaker Trophy twice before. The golfer looks to be in a strong position to compete for a third title on Saturday. The Northern Irishman, who has clearly been well below his best over the weekend, admitted that he is lucky to still be in contention for the major at Oak Hill. The golfer went on to state that he’ll have a good shot at lifting the trophy on Sunday if he manages to play a good ball off the tee.

Speaking after his ‘surprising’ second round, Rory McIlroy said, as quoted by Golf Monthly:

"I think how terribly I've felt over the golf ball over the last two days, the fact that I'm only five back - not saying it could be up there with one of my best performances, but when I holed that putt at the last, I looked at the board, and I thought, 'I can't believe I'm five back.'”

He added:

"I guess that's a good thing because I know if I can get it in play off the tee, that's the key to my success over the weekend. If I can get the ball in play off the tee, I'll have a shot."

It is pertinent to note that McIlroy has been fighting illness coming into the PGA Championship. The golfer has not been at his best. However, he has managed to make a strong comeback and is now looking to give a run to event leaders Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, and others on Sunday.

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Rory McIlroy discusses preparation for the PGA Championship

After the second round, Rory McIlroy came out to reveal his game plan. The 34-year-old, who took swinging tips from Tiger Woods ahead of the PGA Championship, said that he’s been aiming left on most tees and attempting to play a little cut to gain an advantage.

Opening up about his game at the range, the PGA Tour star said:

"When I'm working on the range, I hardly miss a shot on the range, and then it's just trying to get it to go from the range to the golf course that I'm finding difficult. I think at this point I might just tee it high and just bomb it everywhere. I tried to hit that little cut off the tee on 16, and it nearly went OB. I hit my last two tee shots on 17 and 18 really hard, and they actually were really good tee shots.”

McIlroy explained that ‘every hole has one side in trouble’ and he’s aiming to not miss the right spots off the tees in the coming rounds. The ace golfer further lauded his competition and dubbed the PGA Championship 2023 field as being one of the strongest in golf.