By Derek Lawrenson for the Daily Mail
Published: 00:25 GMT, 16 March 2019 | Updated: 00:25 GMT, 16 March 2019
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Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy were both at their mesmerising best on Friday and consequently are tied for the lead, three shots clear of everyone else at the halfway stage of a compelling Players Championship.
On a day when one of the most famous holes in golf claimed its most famous victim in Tiger Woods, the charismatic pair plotted their way expertly around this course fraught with danger with wonderful rounds of 67 and 65 respectively to give the leaderboard a heavyweight look.
The UK challenge is not confined to this pedigree pair, either, as Ian Poulter, back at the course where he resurrected his career with a resolute runner-up showing two years ago, shot 66 to lie tied third.
Rory McIlroy carded an impressive 65 as he pulled back from two shots behind to tie the lead
He joins Tommy Fleetwood at the top who leads on the PGA Tour for second weekend in a row
While Fleetwood started out like a train - he holed a bunker shot to eagle the second, and sandwiched it with birdies at the 1st and 3rd - McIlroy played the last 11 holes with a style all his own, birdieing seven of them and still missing two putts inside 8ft. Once he
