Rory McIlroy unburdened by sleeping on 36-hole lead at British Open

Rory McIlroy has been here before and holding the lead of a grand slam event has worked out pretty well for the two-time major champion.

“You’re battling yourself, I think that’s the big thing,” McIlroy, who torched Royal Liverpool to the tune of a second consecutive 6-under 66 on Friday, told ESPN about the pressures of sleeping on an advantage at a major.

“You’re battling your emotions, your mind because you don’t want to get ahead of yourself,” said the man who won each of his major titles (2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship) by eight strokes. “You don’t want to look at what anyone else is doing.”

McIlroy overcame his recent freakish Friday struggles to get to 12-under for the week after carding a bogey at the first and seven birdies, including two in a row to end his stellar day four shots ahead of a surging Dustin Johnson (7-under in the second round). Tiger Woods, who was fortunate just to make it to the weekend on the course he conquered to win his third claret jug in 2006, sat at 12-under at the midway mark eight years ago.

Making a five on the first hole certainly caught the attention of the one man in the field who has the opportunity to do what only two before him have accomplished.

Instead of losing his focus after the early error, though, McIlroy concentrated on the task at hand.

“Bogey at one from 80 yards so I was thinking that’s not really the best way to start,” said McIlroy, who has mysteriously gone 15-over in second rounds this season but 50-under on Thursdays. “But I knew the par-5s are where you can make a score on this golf course ... so even though I bogeyed the first I felt relatively calm inside.”

Attack the par-5s he did, absolutely crushing his drives and making birdies on three of the remaining four 5-pars on the track.

“Stick to my game plan,” he said. “Stick to your process, what you know, what you’ve been doing well.”

With his collapse in the final round of the 2011 Masters well behind him, McIlroy has conquered his inner demons and believes he has what it takes to stay within himself and capture that third leg of the career grand slam.

“You’ve just got to really think about yourself and control what you can control and thats the big thing, the big challenge for me,” McIlroy said. “I’ve been in this position before and thankfully I’ve been able to get the job done.”