Record-breaker McIlroy lives the American dream

For 17 holes yesterday, the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland systematically dissected the monstrous layout at Congressional and inflicted the same kind of hurt on a US Open record book that doesn't change easily.

McIlroy made a 6 to finish the day but by then, the damage was done. He shot a 5-under-par 66 to set the record for the best 36-hole score in the 111-year history of the tournament.

"I'm very happy with my position," McIlroy said. "I couldn't have asked for anything more on the first tee this morning."

His 36-hole score was one shot better than Ricky Barnes at Bethpage in 2009 and the gap would have been bigger had McIlroy not hooked his drive on 18 into the trees and knocked the recovery shot into the water left of the green.

He made double-bogey there - a disappointing way to close a round that had been virtually error free until then. So good, in fact, that after back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17, McIlroy did something nobody had ever done. He reached 13-under par, the lowest score at any point in the history of the tournament, breaking a record held by Tiger Woods and Gil Morgan. If only he had avoided going into the lake with his approach to Congressional's 523-yard par four last he would also have taken the lowest 36-hole aggregate in any major off Sir Nick Faldo.

Despite the late hiccup, McIlroy still held a seven-shot lead over YE Yang, who teed off as the leader finished before going on to shoot a 69 which left him clear in second place at five under.

McIlroy remains the man to catch. "I'm feeling good - feeling very good," said the player after taking another huge step towards keeping the trophy in Northern Irish hands following Graeme McDowell's triumph last June.

And this, of course, after the whole of Europe had gone 40 years without lifting it - and 43 years before Tony Jacklin's 1970 victory.

"It's funny to me. It feels quite simple. I'm hitting fairways, I'm hitting greens, I'm holing my fair share of putts.

"It's been two very, very good days of golf. I've put myself in a great position going into the weekend. But I know more than probably anyone else what can happen, so I've got to stay really focused and try and finish this thing off."

McIlroy added: "These records, they're nice, but they don't really mean anything until the end of the tournament. If I can look back on this tournament with a trophy in my hand and look back at the records that would be nice." Whether he would also equal the biggest 36-hole lead in any major remained to be seen. That was the nine of Sir Henry Cotton in 1934.

For McIlroy to be doing what he is doing at his age is truly remarkable. He is a few months younger than Jack Nicklaus was when he lifted the first of his 18 majors in 1962 and would be the youngest person to lift the trophy since another legend of golf - amateur Bobby Jones - in 1923. "It's been very near the best I can play," McIlroy reflected. "The second on the eighth was a bonus, but I hit a couple of iron shots on the back nine that were so pure.

"I'm halfway there, but there's still a long way to go. It's a big challenge, but every time I put myself in position I am becoming more and more comfortable and that's important. I felt very much at ease today - you are when you hit so many good shots."

Zach Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Robert Garrigus and Brandt Snedeker finished the day at 2 under. "If Rory keeps playing the way he's playing, we're all playing for second place," Snedeker said.

McIlroy became the fastest player to reach double digits under par at the US Open, taking just 26 holes.

And he had a good chance of holding the biggest lead at the halfway point of the tournament, a record that belongs to Woods, who led by six after 36 holes of his indelible performance at Pebble Beach in 2000.

Coming off a final-round collapse at the Masters two months ago, McIlroy is still search of his first major. Now, it's just a matter of which way he'll go. Of the four previous players to reach 11-under par or better at the US Open, two have won easily (Woods and Jim Furyk in 2003) and two have suffered meltdown (Morgan in 1992 and Barnes in 2009). McIlroy said he's changed a few things since Augusta.

"I said I needed to be a little more cocky, a little more arrogant on the golf course, and think a little bit more about myself, which I've tried to incorporate a little bit, just on the golf course," he said. "I just try and have a bit of an attitude, you know?"

McIlroy holed out from the eighth fairway for an eagle that got him to 10 under. He made five birdies, 11 pars and still technically doesn't have a bogey, even though he did make the double on 18.

He hit 15 more greens in regulation to bring his total to 32 of 36 for the tournament. Before the 18th, even when he got in trouble, he turned out OK. After hitting his approach into the bunker on the 11th, he saved par with a 10-foot putt.

But the signature shot from this day was the eagle on the eighth. Hitting a short approach, he bounced the ball at the back of the green, it hit twice then spun and rolled slowly before dropping into the cup. McIlroy raised both hands in the air. Phil Mickelson, playing in the same threesome, applauded.

What else could he do?

"He's striking it flawlessly and putted great on the greens," said Mickelson, who shot 69 to close at 1 over. "His first two rounds were very impressive."

McIlroy backed up the eagle with five straight pars, then stiffed his approach on 14 to four feet and made the putt to move to 11 under. On 16, he barely missed an eight-foot eagle putt that would have put him at 13 under. But he got to that number on 17 with birdie following an equally close approach. No player had reached the magical 12-under point at any Open venue other than Pebble Beach, where Woods and Morgan hit the mark. Congressional is no Pebble, but neither is it turning into the beast it could've been. Soft greens from an overnight rainstorm and forgiving rough took some of the bite out of the 7,500-yard layout. McIlroy's first tee shot went slightly left into that rough but he had no problem wedging it out and onto the front of the green. His shot on 18 was so far left that the thickness of the rough wasn't the issue, but rather the angle he had to come in on.

"I was just trying to play out to the front right portion of the green," he said. "And I just got a little bit of grass caught in between the club face and the ball. The club turned over a bit and that's really all that happened."

Probably no big deal the way things are going. "He's just playing great," Garcia said, "it's as simple as that."

Korean Yang remained the only man who could really eat into McIlroy's lead and birdies at seven and nine saw him move within five, before bogeys at 11 and 13 saw him drop to four under. A birdie at the 16th saw him claw back to five under before a par-par finish.

Defending champion Graeme McDowell got off to a bogey-bogey start then stabilised his round before a double bogey 6 at his 13th hole, the fourth, saw him slip back to two over for the championship. A birdie at his 16th and bogey at the last meant that's where he finished.

England's Robert Rock - he of the visa problems that meant he arrived only at 3.30am on Thursday - remained one under after a 71, but admitted jet-lag had caught up with him. Top two Luke Donald and Lee Westwood were among the afternoon starters like Yang.

After a 45-minute rain delay Donald and Westwood both birdied the long ninth, but it was the world No 2 who finished the happier as he closed at one-over - the same as Ireland's Padraig Harrington.

Donald was stuck on three over with two holes to play.

Scotland's two representatives, Martin Laird and Stephen Gallacher, both finished on five over and looked like going home early, with the projected cut a shot lower. Paul Casey (five over) and Justin Rose (seven over) were also on the wrong side of the line

The two Scots returned identical scores on each day, both opening with two-over par rounds of 73 on Thursday and then adding 74s yesterday. For Laird it will be particularly disappointing if he fails to stay the course for the weekend. The Scot enjoyed an impressive Masters debut in April where he demonstrated his temperament for the majors with a top 20 finish which saw him partner Woods on the final day. Gallacher took up his place at Congressional after coming through qualifying at Walton Heath last month.

England's Ian Poulter finished six over par.