Rory McIlroy catches cold and struggles at the Barclays Singapore Open
While many of the European Tour players are performing well at the Barclays Singapore Open, the world number one Rory McIlroy is struggling to maintain his form in the tournament.
The tournament is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour, featuring a star-studded field, contending for the US$6 million prize purse.
After finishing his opening-round campaign with a one-under par 70, he started off his second round in poor style.
He parred each of the first two holes on the back nine and followed them with a bogey-double bogey streak on the next two holes.
He then tried to make a comeback by recording birdies on the 18th, 1st and the 3rd hole, prior to the inclement weather, which forced the game to be suspended on Friday.
At the end of the halted second round, he found himself five-strokes behind the clubhouse leaders Simon Dyson and Chapchai Nirat.
Talking to the reporters after the suspension of the round, he revealed that he caught cold due to the heavy rains in the area. That was the major reason behind his faltering performance in the opening two days.
"I'm struggling a bit with a cold or a sinus infection at the moment, so I'm not feeling 100 percent," said McIlroy, who is accompanied by the tennis star and his girlfriend, Caroline Wozniacki, in Singapore this week.
"The energy levels are fine, and maybe it's a good thing that the temperature and humidity is so high, because I might be able to sweat it out," added the world number one.
The world number one did not participate in last week’s HSBC Champions, as he decided to support his girlfriend at the Qatar Airways Tournament of Champions.
He was then highly criticized for skipping one of the biggest events on the European Tour. However, the Northern Irishman cleared the air by saying that he needed a break to bring balance between his career and personal life.
This week, he returned to the course with an aim of extending his lead in The Race to Dubai. However, he will have to work really hard in the remaining tournament to record a strong finish.
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