A round of 67 ensured Rory McIlroy will begin his third round at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron three shots off the lead.
Ian Poulter, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas lead the way at 11 under par, but McIlroy remains in the hunt after he holed out from a bunker on the 17th for an unlikely birdie after a wayward drive and also birdied the last to complete a 67.
"If I had shot one under today I think it would have felt the worst I could have shot with where I was putting some of my tee shots," McIlroy told Sky Sports.
"I should have been giving myself looks for birdies on that back nine and I was having to hole five and six footers for par so it was nice to finish like that. I was getting frustrated out there but that finish makes up for it."
Tiger Woods is two shots behind McIlroy after a mixed round. He began with a bogey at the first, but quickly got into the groove with three birdies in his next four holes, including a 12 foot birdie at the fifth.
A brilliant tee shot on the par-three 12th left Woods with a tap-in birdie, but an errant drive on the 14th led to a second dropped shot of the day.
Woods was unable to pick up any shots on the closing stretch and a 68 left him five shots off the shared lead.
Paul Dunne went three shots better than his opening round 71 to join a cluster of players on one-unde rpar.
Poulter meanwhile added a second round of 67 to his opening 62 at Firestone Country Club for a halfway total of 11 under par, which was matched by Fleetwood and world number three Thomas.
"I'm playing well, I feel aggressive," Poulter told reporters in a post-round interview broadcast by the PGA Tour. "I feel like the greens, the way they are, you can be super aggressive and that's what I need to do.
"I need to keep reminding myself that if I play aggressive it brings out some of the good golf in me and I need to continue that."
Poulter is currently outside the automatic qualifying places for next month's Ryder Cup but insists simply being in Thomas Bjorn's side in Paris is all that matters.
"Frankly I don't care," the 42-year-old added. "As long as I'm putting the shirt on at the end of September I don't mind whether I make it on merit or whether Thomas picks me."
American Kyle Stanley and former world number one Jason Day are two shots off the lead on nine under
