Rory McIlroy hopes his stunning finish to round two at the 2022 DP World Tour Championship is the trigger to make "something happen" over the final 36 holes.
McIlroy went into the final event of the season leading the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex but an opening 71 and a pedestrian start to his second round opened the door for Matt Fitzpatrick to potentially pip him in the final standings.
Needing a big finish to give himself hope, McIlroy birdied the 16th from six feet and the island 17th from ten before saving his best for last.
A breathtaking 226-yard uphill approach to the 18th green settled three feet from the hole and he nervelessly holed the putt for eagle, a 68 and a five-under-par halfway total.
Asked if it changed his mindset going into the weekend, McIlroy said: “Yeah, 100 per cent.
“Pretty mediocre golf for the first 33 holes and then something sort of clicked. Whatever it is, I need to bottle it for the weekend.
“It was nice to finish with a flourish there and put myself a little closer to the guys.
“You never know, that finish here on Friday could be key to something that happens over the next 36 holes.”
Regarding his dream shot into the final green, McIlroy said: “I think it was playing 233 (yards) adjusted with the elevation, it was just a perfect number for a four iron.
"The TV tower was a great line, I knew I just needed to make a good solid swing and yeah, that was a really good golf swing. More of those needed over the weekend.
"You make your score over 72 holes, but you’re going to have little spurts like the last three holes that I just had, where you play them in four under, or you play nine holes in five under. It’s just waiting for that to happen and not forcing the issue.
“I felt like I started forcing the issue on 14 and 15 today, played those two holes in one over which wasn’t great. Re-setting for the last three holes, my goal was to play them in two under and I played them in four under, which was really nice.”
