By Martyn Herman
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (Reuters) -Home favourite Rory McIlroy achieved the first part of his mission at Royal Portrush on Friday -- making the cut.
Now the 36-year-old cannot wait for the weekend's battle as he seeks a second British Open title.
"I'm excited for that opportunity. I didn't have this opportunity six years ago, so to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I'm very excited, the five-time major champion said after a two-under 69 second round
kept him firmly in the mix fore the Claret Jug.
McIlroy arrived at Portrush this week desperate to banish the demons of 2019 when, on the course he used to play as a child and where he broke the course record aged 16, he endured a nightmare, missing the weekend after a first-round 79.
His opening round 70 was a roller-coaster ride of birdies and bogeys in which he found only two fairways.
Blessed with calmer conditions for his second round, McIlroy again mixed good with bad in front of the huge galleries who flocked to cheer on the local hero.
Having holed a birdie on the first, he scrambled for par on the second after nearly driving out of bounds, bogeyed the par-three third following a misjudged tee shot, birdied the fourth and bogeyed the fifth before settling down.
He tapped in a birdie at the 12th and triggered a huge roar as a 17-foot putt for birdie disappeared at the 14th.
It was not exactly a Rory charge but at three-under the Masters champion is only a handful of shots off the lead.
"Another solid day. A couple under, improved a little bit on yesterday, hit it in play a little bit more off the tee, which was nice to have some looks out of the fairway," said McIlroy, whose Augusta win this year finally completed his career slam.
"It was a good day. I feel like I maybe could be a couple closer to the lead, but overall I'm in a decent position heading into the weekend."
After showing flashes of his best so far, McIlroy said he will have to find another gear if he is to be challenging down the stretch on Sunday, especially off the tee where his accuracy ranks 148th out of the 156 starters.
"I know what I need to do to get the best out of myself in an environment like that," he said. "I've been somewhat close to my best over the first two days in little bits here and there.
"I'm going to need to have it all under control and have it sort of all firing over the weekend to make a run."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
