Saturday 7 April 2018 14:34, UK
Rory McIlroy dug deep to stay firmly in contention for his first Masters title as he fired a one-under 71 on a second day of tough scoring at Augusta.
McIlroy had only one blemish on his card in his opening 69, but he began his second round by three-putting the first green before atoning immediately with a perfect putt from 30 feet at the second.
The 28-year-old pitched to three feet to set up another gain at the third, but his erratic start continued when he went long at the fourth and could not get up-and-down, and he blotted his card again at the short sixth to drop back to two under.
McIlroy, once again bidding to complete a career Grand Slam of majors this week, missed chances around the turn to improve his position, but he followed a steady run of five pars with a good birdie at the 13th, and he defied the contours of the 14th green to roll in another birdie putt from 25 feet.
His long game was in good order over the last three holes, but further chances to claim the outright lead went begging as he settled for a 71 which was enough to earn a share of the early clubhouse lead with overnight leader Jordan Spieth on four under par.
Mcilroy was happy with his position heading into the weekend, although he admitted to feeling a little frustrated at not being able to convert his chances late in the round.
"Conditions today were a little more difficult than they were yesterday," said McIlroy, who has gone on to win the last four majors in which he was inside the top five after round one. "The breeze was up a little bit and I felt like the pin positions were a little tougher. It was tough to get it close to some of those pins.
"I'm pretty happy with how I started, there were a few birdies and a few bogeys thrown in there, but I steadied the ship after the sixth hole and didn't make a bogey after that. Made a couple more birdies, but I feel like I could have shot another round in the 60s.
"I was a little disappointed walking off the 18th green. I had two good chances on 17 and 18 that I didn't convert, but overall, a 71 out there today was a pretty good score and obviously I'm in a nice position going into the weekend."
McIlroy remained confident of maintaining his challenge over the weekend, although he is wary of the threat of gusting winds, thunderstorms and rain expected to hit the Augusta region on Saturday.
"I think once you get yourself up there, you're playing well enough after day one that if you continue that good play, you should be up there for the rest of the tournament," he added. "I've always felt comfortable being up around the lead. It's a place that I'm thankfully quite familiar with and know how to deal with.
"I knew it was going to be wet tomorrow, but I didn't know about the wind, so it makes it all the more pleasing that I'm up there near the lead. It's such a hard golf course to chase on, and if you start to go for pins and you start chasing it, that's when you can bring in some trouble and make some mistakes.
"I'm happy with the position I'm in, and whatever weather comes our way tomorrow, I feel like I'll be able to handle it and keep myself near the top of the leaderboard, and it's going to be an exciting weekend."
