McIlroy Price Plummets After Clinical US Open Second Round

After a record-setting second day at the Congressional Golf Club in Bethesda, Maryland; Rory McIlroy was bullish about his current form and appeared eager to close out the tournament with as much momentum as he has been carrying. Having made a real statement of intent on the opening day, McIlroy followed up with an even better performance to deliver an unprecedented 131 after two days at Congressional.

The European bookmakers have gone predictably bonkers by slashing McIlroy's price down to a microscopic 2/7 with two full sessions left to be played. This key major championship would be considered a real scalp for the Europeans. The Northern Irishman was ever-so-close to a winning performance at the Masters but a spectacular late collapse saw his major dreams disappear on the back nine at Augusta.

Currently sitting a -11 with his nearest competition hovering around -4, McIlroy appears poised to capitalize on the magical combination of skill and luck that saw him land one of the shots of the year on the eighth hole for eagle.

At the moment, the only real competitor looks to be Y.E Yang with a full 12/1 price should be put on a charge over the last two days and capitalize on what would be a significant collapse from McIlroy. Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia both trade at 33/1 with Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Zach Johnson all sitting at 40/1.

Phil Mickelson in particular reiterated to the media just how significant the gap was between him and McIlroy.

Punters in Europe will likely have learned plenty of lessons making patriotic bets late in a major championship. One also wonders how that will affect him in the next two days having built up such an impressive lead that, should be win by a thin margin, could be viewed as more of a great escape than the coronation that this tournament could turn out to be.

The timing of this is key for McIlroy and his quest to solidify himself as a major commercial player in the world of golf. With Tiger Woods withdrawing before this tournament, it may be viewed as an abdication to McIlroy as the leader of the next generation should he continue to reproduce such solid form.