Friday 23 March 2018 08:36, UK
Rory McIlroy is aiming to end his busy pre-Masters stretch on a high after keeping his qualification hopes alive at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
The world No 7 bounced back from his opening-day defeat to see off Jhonattan Vegas 2&1 on Thursday, ensuring he still has a chance of topping Group 6 with victory over Brian Harman in his final round-robin fixture.
McIlroy's appearance at Austin Country Club is his third PGA Tour start in as many weeks and came on the back of his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, with the Northern Irishman admitting the hectic schedule was a factor in his slow start to the week.
"I could have done with that extra day," McIlroy told Sky Sports. "You win on a Sunday and usually you're teeing it back up on a Thursday but you have to start on a Wednesday here.
"I did feel a bit flat on Wednesday coming back out here. I don't want to use that as an excuse, Peter [Uihlein] played great, but there's sometimes a little bit of a hangover and I was tired.
"This is my sixth week out of seven as well so I'm looking forward to hopefully getting through to the weekend here but putting the clubs away for a couple of days before getting ready for Augusta."
Fellow European Tommy Fleetwood registered the biggest win of the day, as he recovered from his opening-day loss to Ian Poulter by thrashing Kevin Chappell 7&6.
"I walked off the course (on Wednesday) really disappointed in myself," Fleetwood told Sky Sports. "Not to take anything away from Ian because he played solid and did what he needed to do, but I putted really poor and felt like I gifted everything to him all day.
"You just sit there for an hour and think that was awful. I knew I had to work on my putting and did some work on it and tried to come out with a much more positive attitude."
Watch the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Friday from 2.15pm on Sky Sports Golf and 6pm on Sky Sports Main Event.
