Rory McIlroy goes low at Bay Hill, shoots up Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard

Rory McIlroy went really low in the second round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, posting a six-under 66 after going on an absolute birdie barrage that included a streak of five in a row down the stretch. The round shot him 28 spots up the leaderboard, where he currently sits tied for fourth.

McIlroy’s nearly flawless Friday in only his second career round at Arnie’s tourney began with a birdie on the par-four 10th, his first hole of the day. He added another on the par-five 16th but made the turn with a pedestrian two-under 34 that left him lagging well behind 18-hole leader Morgan Hoffmann.

“A two-under front nine for me was very similar to how I played yesterday,” McIlroy told Golf Channel, referring to Thursday’s 70.

Hoffmann stumbled out of the gate with a bogey-five on the first, but six birdies going out, including four straight of his own on holes three through six, put significant distance between him and the world No. 1. Just as Hoffmann hit a bit of a rough patch (three birdies and a bogey on his second nine), McIlroy was on cruise control, as his stiffed approach from 145 yards on the par-four 5th illustrated.

“Made a few good putts at the start of the back nine, which got me going a little bit,” McIlroy said. “Overall a good day and gets me back into the tournament.”

McIlroy’s one blemish came on the eighth hole, where his approach shot from a shaggy lie after an errant drive plugged in a green-side bunker. Rory had been 4-for-4 out of the sand up to that point, but he carded his first bogey of the day after just missing a 20-footer for par.

A poor approach to the ninth earned his ire, but he was able to get it up and down from an extremely gnarly lie and finished five shots behind Hoffman with the afternoon wave of golfers just starting.

Despite hitting fewer fairways and greens in regulation (8/14, 12/18) than he did on Thursday -- when he nearly batted 1.000 -- leaping into contention following a missed cut at the Honda Classic, and a shaky week at Doral, was just what the four-time major champion was hoping for on his final tuneup before the Masters. With Augusta’s treacherous greens awaiting, needing just 25 putts compared with 34 on Thursday was also a positive sign.

“It would have been nice to finish the round off a little better but still a good score and sets me up well for the weekend,” McIlroy said. “Happy with how I putted today and need to putt that way over the weekend to have a chance.”

★★★

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