Can Rory McIlroy put Masters disaster behind him?

Rory McIlroy shot a second round 66 to go with his opening round of 65 and in doing so managed to open up a huge lead over his rivals when play was suspended due to bad weather at around 9 o'clock on Friday evening.

The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland looked like he was playing a totally different course to the rest of the field and if it wasn't for a double-bogey at his final hole the gap would have been even bigger.

When play was stopped because of heavy rain South Korea's Y.E. Yang stood in second place on five under par with nine holes left to play, a full six shots behind the leader. A further three shots behind on two under par came a group of five players with Sergio Garcia and Zach Johnson among them.

McIlroy's halfway total of eleven under is a tournament record, surpassing the previous best set by Ricky Barnes in 2009 at Bethpage, although a word of caution for Rory fans, Ricky Barnes failed to win that year, closing with a 76 and handing the US Open to Lucas Glover.

“We may be looking at the beginning of a new era – and the end of an era with Tiger Woods,” Paul Azinger said on ESPN. “There's a new kid on the block.”

“Every time I get myself into contention in a major I become more comfortable,” McIlroy said. “I felt at ease today.”

This would be some comeback for Rory McIlroy if he could hold onto the lead and bag his first major when you consider that only a couple of months ago he threw away a four shot lead heading into the last round of the US Masters with a final round 80.