Focused McIlroy produces another cracker
Northern Irish ace refuses to be distracted by fireworks as he closes in on Masters lead
As China's rapid pace of economic growth exploded around him, world No 1 Rory McIlroy produced his own fireworks to take his familiar place high up on the leaderboard at the BMW Masters yesterday.
A day after being bombarded by polluting factories and developing a headache during his opening round, McIlroy and his fellow European Tour stars had to deal with random music, fireworks and piledriving from villages and developments bordering the Lake Malaren Golf Club.
The 23-year-old Northern Irishman put the distractions aside to shoot a seven-under 65 and put the pressure on Swede Peter Hanson, who raced to a two-shot lead at 14 under after adding a 64 to his opening 66.
The pair have already put daylight between them and the rest of the elite 78-man field, headed by fellow Swede Robert Karlsson at nine under. Overnight leader Jamie Donaldson (Wales) went backwards after starting the day four shots clear after his opening-day 10-under 62. He is at eight under with Justin Rose (England), Alexander Noren (Sweden) and Shane Lowry (Ireland).
Having won at Lake Malaren last year when it was an invitational event and carried off a US$1.5 million first prize, McIlroy mostly knows what to expect in China, especially mobile phones bursting into life, but the fireworks startled him.
"I thought they were gunshots going off there," he said. "You are always going to have distractions, whether it's people with their cameras or movement in the crowd or fireworks or music from I don't know where.
"Once you're over your shot, you're sort of in your own little bubble, your zone, and you don't really notice."
