A bogey at the final hole soured an otherwise fine second round from Rory McIlroy which propelled him into the top 10 at the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow.
On Thursday, a 15-foot birdie at the last came after 17 successive pars and numerous missed chances. McIlroy, a four-time winner at Quail Hollow, made little headway on the front nine, dropping his first stroke of the tournament after an underhit approach at the second.
He replied with a birdie at the short fourth hole and then really caught fire on the back nine, with five birdies in seven holes between the 10th and 16th to climb up the leaderboard.
His 11-footer at the 515 yard par-four 16th brought him to six under, just three off the lead held by Sungae Im.
Im, one stroke off the lead after day one, carded a less spectacular 69 on Friday, though hit the front courtesy of Matt McCarty's regression, the overnight leader following a 63 with a three over par 74, which included a double-bogey and three bogeys.
Tommy Fleetwood holds sole possession of second place, one shot behind Im on eight under par, after a second successive 67.
Two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas is joint-third on seven under par alongside Alex Fitzpatrick, recent winner at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with his brother Matt.
Nicolai Hojgaard is among a trio of players on six under, while Rickie Fowler shot the low round of the day with an eight-under par 63 to join McIlroy on five under.
Rickie drives it to 15 feet!
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 8, 2026
And a thumbs up from Rory on the green 👍
📺 Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/CZE6GWL5e0
One stroke further back, there is a high powered cohort on four under, including Cameron Young, Ludvig Aberg, Keegan Bradley and Akshay Bhatia.
