Rory McIlroy has launched a characteristic charge to seize a share of the lead with Adam Scott at the Emirates Australian Open. The Northern Irishman added a seven-under-par 65 to his opening round 69 to reach 10-under for the tournament, vaulting to the top of the leaderboard with Scott today. The Australian, who began with a course record 62 on Thursday, had conceded a share of the lead before he even teed off in round two. McIlroy had said on Thursday night that he needed to capitalise on his early tee time on Friday, and so he did. The former world No. 1 began at the 10th and immediately birdied. The winds were light, the greens slightly softer in the light rain, and these were good scoring conditions. He birdied 13th, 15th and 16th before giving back a shot at the difficult par-three 17th hole after he missed the green and could not get up and down from the right side. Then hit a pure iron shot to the 18th green, a metre from the hole and made another birdie. Four more birdies on his second nine, the front nine at Royal Sydney, gave him a 65. The other man to make a charge was Victoria&aposs Richard Green, who shot a 66 including a hole-in-one at the par-three sixth hole. It was just the third competition ace of his long career. “It was a flush golf shot,&apos&apos said Green, whose eight-iron shot rode left-to-right on the breeze, landed three metres short of the flag and popped in. Green was at nine-under-par overall, a shot behind Scott and McIlroy, by the time he signed his card. “I&aposm going to have to play the golf of my life to keep up with them,&apos&apos he said. Huge crowds spilled on to Royal Sydney this morning to watch McIlroy play, with Scott having a 12.10 tee time. Green, a 20-year veteran of the tour, said he had not seen crowds like this since Greg Norman&aposs heyday.
Author: Martin Blake at Royal Sydney