Rory McIlroy needed a slice of good fortune and a cool head to make the cut at the Honda Classic as he carded a second 72 to close on four over par.
McIlroy conceded that conditions at PGA National were better suited to preparing for the US Open rather than the Masters in a few weeks' time, and he looked in danger of missing a second cut in three starts after a triple-bogey six at the 17th.
The world No 10 made another encouraging start with a birdie at the 10th followed by a run of clutch par saves, but he came to grief at the notorious 17th when he blocked his tee ball into the water hazard, dumped his third into a bunker from the drop zone and needed three to get down.
McIlroy then parred the first five holes of the front nine, including another excellent up-and-down at the third, and he gave himself a cushion in his fight to make the weekend when he used the contours of the sixth green to his advantage to get his approach to six feet before rattling in a confident putt for birdie.
But he gave the shot back immediately with another bunkered tee shot at the short seventh and, after a par at the eighth, his approach from the right rough to the ninth looked to be heading for more sand but hit a spectator on the foot and came to rest.
The 28-year-old still faced a tricky up-and-down from an awkward stance, but he pitched to six feet and held his nerve to nail the putt which ensured he would be around for another 36 holes.
Explaining his adventurous par at the ninth, McIlroy said: "That ball would have rolled back into the bunker if some guy's foot hadn't been there. I guess the guy, one of the FBI guys that was following our group, he was asking him about the rules and he goes, 'I'm a cop. I'm law enforcement, so don't be asking me'!
"That was one of the best fours I've made out here the last couple days. I think it's probably the longest I've ever taken to try to hit a golf shot because I didn't know whether to stand in the bunker or out of the bunker. But I ended up making a good four in the end.
"It was another tough day, and it probably played tougher than it did yesterday. The greens are a little firmer, the wind is pretty similar and it seemed like every hole that we had a right-to-left wind, the pin was on the right and vice versa. So it was hard to get it close, but I grinded it out - especially after the six on 17.
"I was trying to just play a little bit of a different shot with the five-iron and sort of cut it in there, and I just got way ahead of it. The ball started much further right than I wanted to and it just drifted into the water. Again, I tried to play the shot that was the right one. I just didn't make a good swing.
"But to play a good 10 holes after that, and be level par for those, that's sort of all you're hoping for out there today, Anything around 70 and you're going to be doing well."
McIlroy is playing eight tournaments in 10 weeks to get plenty of competitive golf under his belt ahead of the Masters in April, but conditions at PGA National have been more similar to a US Open set-up.
"It's US Open conditions and US Open scoring," he added. "It's pretty much the preparation for everything but what we want it to be. I guess the greens are getting a little fast, so that's one thing, and it seems like it's been quite blustery the last couple years at Augusta. But yeah, it's probably the furthest thing from Augusta right now around here."