The PGA Tour leaderboard is live from the Barclays golf tournament in New Jersey and the second round is picking up ahead of the weekend with Rory McIlroy looking to rebound, as a group of players are leading with Keegan Bradley, Kevin Chappell and Hunter Mahan in the mix, while Phil Mickelson is also playing in this FedEx Cup playoff tourney and it comes as Adam Scott is the defending champion.
McIlroy is coming into the tournament after a fantastic run and that saw him win the Open Championship as well as the PGA Championship back to back. McIlroy now has three majors and is looking like he is the breakout player everyone thought he could be and while he struggled in the first round at the Barclays, he has the chance to make up for it moving forward. McIlroy has been the best player on tour this year and now he is back in the number one ranking spot.
McIlroy doesn't have to qualify for next week in the Fed Ex, as he is already through, but he can keep his ranking in the standings high with a solid performance. McIlroy trailed the leader by a number of strokes to open Friday, but he has the chance to bounce back and he has shown already that he can do that this year. McIlroy had a round over 70 for the first time in a while and he had been under par for 14 straight rounds coming into the tournament before that.
McIlroy had plenty to do leading up to the tournament and that may have had something to do with it, but McIlroy said that he was feeling good at Ridgewood Country Club and was looking forward to getting back out on the course. McIlroy won in Europe and also took the major at Valhalla and now he has the chance to finish the year strong in the playoffs.
This one is the first of four FedEx Cup playoff tournaments and McIlroy is in nice position in the standings, as he is first in points coming into this event. McIlroy doesn't need to qualify for the Deutsche Bank Championship because of that and he likely will be in line to make the Tour Championship 30 player field when that comes up after the playoffs.
This year has been a disaster for Tiger Woods and now he is out of action and will not be playing and that comes after he injured himself again at the PGA Championship. Woods has been up and down all season and missed time after surgery and he also comes in after winning five times on Tour last season. McIlroy had a terrible year in 2013 and has now bounced back, while Woods did the opposite, although he did not win a major last year.
McIlroy tees off in the afternoon on Friday and he has been on fire lately in second rounds, so everyone should keep an eye on him, weather permitting.
Check here for the live leaderboard and live stream coverage from ESPN and the PGA Tour.