Bob MacIntyre ignites mini charge at Travelers as he produces sand magic with moment of quality
Scot makes moves as Tommy Fleetwood catches fire on day two
Resurgent Bob MacIntyre produced some sand magic to ignite a mini-charge at the Travelers Championship as Ryder Cup pal Tommy Fleewtood joined the leaders up front.
The Scottish star kickstarted a burst at TPC River Highlands with a moment of quality at the beginning of the back nine to mount a solid rush up the leaderboard.
Fresh from his runner-up finish at the US Open, MacIntyre's stunning hole-out from a greenside bunker at the tenth catapulted him forward and he began to fly in Connecticut.
The Oban ace strode onto the next tee and immediately smashed a wonderful approach into the par-three for a second-straight birdie, made it three-in-a-row at the 12th with another dart of an iron shot and smooth putt to the heart of the hole and demolished the par-five 13th to make it a dazzling quartet to storm into the Top 20.
MacIntyre got a break when his attempt to drive the par-four 15th just dodged the water to keep the momentum and, although he gave one back on the penultimate having doubled it on Thursday, he was able to par the last and sign for an impressive three-under par 67 and firmly improve his position ahead of the weekend
However, the Tartan star will begin the third day seven shots behind a hat-trick of leaders who pushed into the positions in Connecticut.
Justin Thomas jumped into his share at the halfway mark as he matched Rory McIlroy's first-round score on the second day to move to nine-under par. That allowed him to catch Scottie Scheffler, who, like MacIntyre, suffered on the penultimate hole at TPC River Highlands for the second straight day.
Thursday's hopes of hammering a magical 59 were ruined when he made a mess of the 17th and he did the same on Friday when blaming a gust of wind for taking his tee-shot into a bunker and then smacking the resultant effort into water for a double.
Scheffler's two-shot lead evaporated at that point and he now sits level with Thomas at the top of the boards and also Fleetwood with two days to go.
The English ace made it a trio at the summit as he shot a magical back nine of 30, including two eagles, to get into position to win his first-ever PGA Tour title.
Fleetwood said: 'I was very disappointed last week [at US Open]. I played poorly, but the thing is in golf there is always another week and you have to get ready. I came out motivated to try and take what there is to learn and help it make you better. So far I'm happy with how I've bounced back.'
McIlroy hit the stall button in the second round, but did recover from a nightmare start to salvage something. The Northern Irish superstar looked back to his best in the first-round with a bogey-free 64 to sit just a couple off the pace.
But McIlroy quickly ruined that stat as he dropped strokes in three of the opening five holes of his second round through a scrappy start. The career Grand Slam ace managed to stem the bleeding and get himself back on an even-keel by recovering all three of the losses on the back nine as he approached the closing stages of his day-two effort.
McIlroy couldn't cash in on luck at the 17th when, after he hit his ball into the water before it skimmed off the surface and bounced out, he couldn't save par and ended with a one-over Friday score of 71 to sit four behind the leaders
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