Safely into weekend, Rory eyes big Open chase

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland -- Rory McIlroy accomplished one of his goals on Friday at Royal Portrush. Six years after missing the cut at the 2019 Open Championship in his home country, McIlroy carded a 2-under 69 in the second round to give him back-to-back under-par rounds and, most importantly, a tee time on the weekend.

"I didn't have this opportunity six years ago," McIlroy said. "So to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I'm very excited for that."

The crowds were once again out in full force Friday as they cheered, chanted and tried to will McIlroy up the leaderboard.

"I feel like I let myself down more than I let the fans down," McIlroy said of 2019. "It was a hard pill to swallow. This time, I've just gotten better. I know what I need to do to get the best out of myself in an environment like that."

The five-time major winner tried his best to oblige the thousands following him Friday, but his two birdies on the front nine were erased by two sloppy bogeys on the third and fifth holes. McIlroy's round then stalled with six straight pars before he made a final charge: a birdie on the par-5 12th and another on the par-4 14th to get to 3 under.

"I feel like my game's definitely good enough to make a run," McIlroy 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."

Despite hitting only two fairways Thursday, McIlroy was able to shoot under par. On Friday, his tee shots found the short grass seven times, a 50% rate that allowed him to get cleaner looks at birdies.

So far this week, he has gained most of his strokes on his approach play (+3.14) and putting (+2.43).

"I don't know if you can ever flow. This golf [course] is very demanding. It's quite visually intimidating off the tee," McIlroy said. "You see the bunched nature of the leaderboard. It's one of these places where you know the holes you have to make par, you know the holes you have to make birdie, and everyone sort of has to play the golf course the same way. Everything becomes pretty bunched."

In 2019, McIlroy didn't get to play the final two rounds, and Shane Lowry pulled away from the field with a 63 on Saturday. The crowd rallied around the Irishman as he waltzed toward his first major victory. This time around, the galleries at Portrush this weekend will get the chance to rally around McIlroy, too.

"It's incredible to play in front of these fans," McIlroy said. "It was 20 years ago that I played the North of Ireland here, and never in my wildest dreams did I think that I'd be coming back as a Grand Slam champion with the support of a nation behind me trying to win an Open Championship. I count myself very grateful and very lucky that I'm in this position, and I'm excited for the weekend."