USGolfProTips

• Northern Irishman joint leader alongside Alvaro Quirós
• Finishes second round seven under despite two late bogeys

Two bogeys in the last three holes saw Rory McIlroy fall back to a tie for the lead with Alvaro Quirós as the second round of the Hong Kong Open drew to a close with the front-runners on seven under.

McIlroy, the US Open champion, blamed his poor finish on a hectic schedule that he said was self-inflicted. “I’m mentally and physically fatigued and it showed in a couple of tired swings toward the end,” he said. “But I don’t think the season was long, I made the season long for myself. It was not as if I was obligated to play.”

McIlroy has had a busy two months, playing in a number of lucrative unsanctioned events, including the Shanghai Masters where he won golf’s biggest purse of £1.25m. The 22-year-old also figured in a week-long trip across China where he played 18 holes spread across seven cities that was sponsored by a Hong Kong businessman’s property company.

“The last 10 weeks has been long. It has been an experience, something I can learn from in the future,” McIlroy said. “It is all a matter of rest. I had two weeks off in the Maldives inbetween the HSBC Champions in Shanghai and the World Cup [in Hainan last week] but I got sick during this time and I was on the drip for three days.”

Starting the day level at the top of the leaderboard alongside Quirós and David Horsey on six-under, McIlroy picked up his first birdie of the day at the 3rd but immediately relinquished the shot at the next.

However, further birdies at the 8th, 10th and 12th saw the 22-year-old move to nine under par before he ran into trouble on the 16th when his drive ended up behind a tree and he was forced to pitch out onto the fairway for an eventual bogey.

A wayward tee shot at the 17th landed in the rough down the left but he recovered for par before another poor tee shot at the last found the trees and he was forced to lay-up before pushing his putt right of the hole to finish with a 69, level with Quirós.

The Spaniard had earlier shot the same score, with four birdies and three bogeys including a disappointing five at the 9th, his final hole.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t play as well as yesterday,” said Quirós. “I managed the round well until the first hole, my 10th. I three-putted there, I three-putted the second and after that, I didn’t hole any good putts. Finishing with a bogey at the 9th was a bit frustrating but this is how it is.

“It’s a shame of a round because without the these two three-putts, it was a proper number, nine-under would be great.

Panupol Pittayarat is at six under par after the Thai returned a 65 containing an eagle and three birdies. The Scot Richie Ramsey is also at six under, one stroke ahead of Miguel Angel Jiménez, who carded an even-par 70.

Horsey is part of the group at four under after signing for a 72 that included two birdies, two bogeys and a costly double-bogey six at the 9th, where he found the water.

“Not as good as yesterday obviously,” was Horsey’s verdict. “I played all right, iron play was good but didn’t hit many fairways and if you miss the fairways, it’s difficult to control your second shot. But I scrambled pretty well, didn’t putt so well but it’s not too bad, it’s not going to be far away by the end of the day so hopefully I’ll go well at the weekend.”

Ian Poulter is one under par after the defending champion produced a 68 containing an eagle, three birdies and three bogeys but a 71 for Padraig Harrington left him one over, as his hopes of sneaking into the Dubai World Championship receded.

Colin Montogmerie also looks set to be around at the weekend after a 69 left the Scot on two over, just inside the projected cut. Justin Rose is likely to miss out, however, the Englishman following up yesterday’s 74 with a 69 that left him three-over for the tournament.