Rory McIlroy is on the hunt for back-to-back PGA titles after a fine second-round 67 moved him into fourth at The Genesis Invitational in San Diego.
The Holywood man is on five-under par, three stokes adrift of the lead held by American Davis Thompson who posted an impressive 66, but it was a round that still contained plenty of frustration.
Five birdies in eight holes from the third propelled him into contention but it was followed by three successive fives – two of which were bogeys.
A brilliant approach into the 15th brought his second birdie of the back nine, an even better wedge to two feet at the penultimate hole moved him back to five under but he could not take advantage of the par-five 18th.
Waterford's Seamus Power had started a shot behind first-round leader Denny McCarthy, but lost ground with 73 leaving him on two-under par. While he failed to card a birdie, there was an eagle on the card at the par-five sixth after he hit his approach to six feet.
Shane Lowry sits on two-over par as he recorded his second 73 of the week. Like Power, birdies were hard to come by but he did manage one at least – at the 18th.
World number one Scottie Scheffler scrambled his way into second place after an uncharacteristically inconsistent round on day two in San Diego.
The Masters champion hit only five fairways but still managed to card a five-under 67 to move to seven under, one off the lead.
Starting at the 10th Scheffler carded two birdies to the turn and added another at the par-three third, before holing out from the sand for an eagle three at the 547-yard sixth and despite being wayward off the tee still managed to avoid a bogey.
"I’m definitely going to try to be in the fairway a bit more tomorrow," he said in his post-round interview.
"I felt today was a day when I survived without driving the ball very well and I’m going to need to drive it better over the last couple of days."
Additional reporting: PA
