Saturday 7 March 2015 09:31, UK
Rory McIlroy was forced to apologise for throwing a club into a lake as JB Holmes retained his lead at the halfway stage of the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral.
Holmes saw his overnight four-shot lead cut in half after he put three balls into water during a scrappy second-round 73 - 11 shots more than his stunning opener - while McIlroy put his ball and then his three-iron into the drink on the eighth hole.
After pulling his second left of the green, the world No 1 hurled the offending long iron away in a fit of pique which is certain to lead to him being fined by the PGA Tour.
McIlroy round was again blighted by inconsistency as he carded six birdies and four bogeys in a two-under 70 which at least got him under the card for the tournament, although he is eight adrift of Holmes going into the weekend.
Ryan Moore remained the closest challenger to Holmes on seven under, while Adam Scott showed little signs of rust in his first outing of the year as well as making a smooth transition to a conventional-length putter.
The Australian rolled in six birdie putts in his four-under 68, the low round of the second day, which leaves him just three off the lead while Bubba Watson and Henrik Stenson are two shots further adrift.
Holmes put his opening drive into water and began with a six before bouncing back with a birdie, but he blocked his approach to the next and found water yet again.
The American made two birdies in three holes around the turn either side of another dropped shot at the ninth, and he also bogeyed 13 before he restored his four-shot advantage over the field with back-to-back birdies at 16 and 17.
But he then found water for the third time with his drive at the last and finally found the green in four before two-putting for a double-bogey six to close on nine under.
Moore solid
In contrast, Moore's 71 was a model of consistency as he carded two birdie, one bogey and 15 pars to get to seven under, snatching outright second from Scott.
Watson, playing alongside McIlroy, put his approach to the opening hole into water and began his round with a six, but he settled with six straight pars before coming within an inch of holing his second to the eighth for an albatross.
He tapped in for eagle, and he made another three at the long 10th after holing a superb bunker escape before eight consecutive pars closed out a bizarre 69.Stenson was another to donate a ball to the water at the short fourth, but the Swede responded with three straight birdies from the sixth and a level-par back nine added up to a 71.
Dustin Johnson and Alexander Levy both fired 73s to slip to three under along with Ryan Palmer (70), while Ryder Cup team-mates Jamie Donaldson (72) and Sergio Garcia (69) share ninth place on two under.
McIlroy and Lee Westwood head into the weekend on one under as only 17 players managed to break par for 36 holes.
