McIlroy rues 'sloppy' round in Atlanta

Rory McIlroy says he hasn't given up hope of winning the FedEx Cup despite a "sloppy" second round at the Tour Championship.

The Northern Ireland golfer, who is five shots behind leader Dustin Johnson going into the weekend at Atlanta, must win the Tour Championship and hope Johnson finishes no better than tied second at East Lake, to claim the $10m bonus for winning the FedEx Cup.

"I need to win, and I just need someone to play as good as Dustin this week. That's what I need to happen. Yeah, I'm aware of the scenario," McIlroy said.

The 27-year-old was three over par after eight holes of his second round but birdied the 10th, 12th and 17th to move up the leaderboard into a tie for fifth.

"I just didn't feel comfortable with my swing and let that feed in to how I played, especially the first few holes. I made some really sloppy swings and poor shots," he said.

"But if I can shoot a couple of scores in the mid 60s at the weekend, you never know."

McIlroy admits a tough week in Georgia is not the ideal preparation for the Ryder Cup, which starts at Hazeltine next week.

"It's been a long stretch," he said.

"This is my fourth week in five and my fifth week in six next week. So I think it's a balance of, obviously, trying to get ready and making sure your game is sharp, but at the same time, trying to save yourself.

"I’m more than likely going to play five matches next week, which is going to be a long week. I'm going to have to reserve as much energy as I can for that."

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