Rory McIlroy was unable to birdie any of the last five holes and eventually signed for a 66 to trail Ludvig Aberg by three shots on nine-under-par after two rounds of the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club.
McIlroy's round included four birdies and one bogey. When he birdied the par-four 13th to get back to nine-under overall, cancelling a bogey on the 11th, McIlroy had eyes on Aberg's 12-under total.
But he failed to pick up any more shots, missing from short range on the par-five 16th when a birdie looked certain.
Spaniard Alejandro del Rey was also on the same score as the Holywood lad after completing a 62.
Sweden's Aberg made it two straight rounds of 64 with a bogey-free masterclass to head into the weekend in the lead.
"I feel like I left two or three out there yesterday and it was similar today so hopefully I can put it all together over the weekend," McIlroy said.
"I saw there was a 62 and a couple of 63s today and that's what it is going to take to be right up there around the lead going into Sunday if we get more of these conditions."
Seamus Power added a 67 to his opening 69 to sit on four-under-par while Tom McKibbin is on two-under (69, 69) and Pádraig Harrington on one-over (70, 71). Both are likely to miss the cut.
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