Rory McIlroy failed to make serious headway at the Tour Championship after a second round 69 left him six adrift of the leaders in East Lake.
McIlroy, who last won the Tour Championship in 2022, had carded an underwhelming 68 to lie near the foot of the 29-strong field on Thursday but started his second brightly, rolling a 25-footer on the first for an opening birdie.
Any positivity wasn’t to last long as McIlroy’s prospects were rocked by a double-bogey on the third, the Masters champion under-hitting two successive bump and run shots which saw the ball roll back to his feet twice in a row.
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The double was followed by a bogey at the fourth as McIlroy failed to save par from the bunker behind the green.
He got back under par with a birdie at the par-5 sixth. A birdie-bogey combo in the middle of the back nine left him stuck at one under before a strong finish, birdies at the 16th and 18th seeing him post a one under score.
Highlighting the tightness of the field, Players Champion Cameron Young made a spectacular move on Friday, going for last in the field to joint-first with a stunning 62.
Young, the only player not under par after Round 1, was playing on his own following the withdrawal of JJ Spaun with a shoulder injury. He rolled in seven birdies in a remarkable eight-hole streak between the third and the 11th.
While his momentum stalled with a bogey on 12, he finished with a flourish, landing an eagle on the par-5 18th to reach eight under and match Min Woo Lee’s score on Thursday.
Young has since been passed out by the leading duo Ryan Gerard and Akshay Bhatia, who are at nine under par and midway through their round.
Overnight leader Lee has struggled early on, dropping back six under early in his second round..