Rory McIlroy veered from the ridiculous to the sublime to remain firmly in contention for a first major title since 2014 in the US Open at Pinehurst.
McIlroy added a second round of 72 to his opening 65 to finish the day on three under par as playing partner Scottie Scheffler faced an anxious wait to see if he would avoid a first missed cut since August 2022, before eventually slipping under to stick around for the weekend.
Masters champion Scheffler, a hot pre-tournament favourite for his sixth win of the year, failed to record a single birdie for the first time in 169 rounds as he returned a 74 to finish five over.
Shane Lowry found himself in the same position and on the same score as Scheffler after following up Thursday's 74 with a round of 71 but as the projected cut moved from four over to five over, they both made it.
The 2019 Open champion carded 14 pars in his opening 14 holes, demonstrating excellent scrambling skills on a hugely difficult day for scoring.
A birdie at the par-5 fifth hole (his 14th) took him under par for the day but he bogeyed the par 3s at the sixth and ninth to fall back to five-over par.
US Open: Day 2 updates
Bryson DeChambeau made five birdies, including from tap-in range on the 18th, to set the early club house lead on four-under following an eventful 69.
DeChambeau was eventually joined at the top of the leaderboard by Patrick Cantlay and Thomas Detry before they were overtaken by Sweden's Ludvig Aberg whose round of 69 saw him finish the day on five-under.
McIlroy had hoped to exploit ideal conditions and fresh greens on Friday morning but hit a mediocre chip from short of the green on his opening hole, the par-five 10th, and was unable to convert the birdie putt from 12 feet.
The first 5 on the card for Rory this week.
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 14, 2024
He's still bogey-free and co-leader. pic.twitter.com/bYeeRo03Vk
That was McIlroy's first five of the week – he had birdied both par fives on Thursday – and another soon followed on the 11th when he was unable to get up and down after a slightly pulled approach span back off the green.
McIlroy also bogeyed the par-three 15th and the Northern Irishman’s day looked set to go from bad to worse when his birdie putt on the 17th rolled past the hole and off the front of the green, but he promptly chipped in for an unorthodox par.
A first birdie of the day finally arrived on the third and McIlroy made a vital save on the fifth after seeing Scheffler and Xander Schauffele both run up double-bogey sevens after needing two attempts to find the putting surface from the native area left of the green.
Huzzah!
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 14, 2024
First birdie of the day for Rory. One behind the leader. pic.twitter.com/RmSVZZXUQT
McIlroy’s approach had also ended up in the same area but he wisely cut his losses with a more conservative third shot across the green and two-putted for par.
A bogey on the ninth cost McIlroy a share of the lead but with weather warnings posted around the course as the temperature climbed above 90 degrees, the afternoon starters were set to face increasingly difficult conditions.
"Obviously it didn't go quite as well as yesterday, but I feel like the golf course played a little more difficult, even though we were off in the morning," McIlroy said.
"Some of the hole locations were definitely a little tougher. Sort of had to have your wits about you. I putted it off one green there on 17.
"Overall, I felt like I did a pretty good job at keeping some of the mistakes off the scorecard. I wish I had converted a couple more of the chances. Hit the ball pretty well. I think only missed one fairway. So I had plenty of opportunities.
"Wasn’t quite as good with the putter today but still overall in a great position going into the weekend."
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