Rory McIlroy eagled the 18th of his second round at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Friday, pushing him to eight under and six shots off leader Sepp Straka.
McIlroy – who hit a hole in one on day one – made a great start on the second day and was four under through the first 11 holes.
Thereafter, the 35-year-old’s form slipped as he played holes 13-17 four over par, but he then finished with a vintage eagle on the last to remain in contention.
Austria’s Straka opened up a three-stroke lead at the top by firing his second straight round of 65. Straka followed a strong opening round at Spyglass Hill Golf Course by hitting eight birdies and just one bogey.
At 14-under 130, Straka is comfortably ahead of Russell Henley (69, Pebble Beach) and Australian Cam Davis (68, Spyglass Hill), tied for second at 11 under.
Sepp Straka enjoyed another superb round to end the day on 14 under and three shots in the lead
Andrew Novak fired a 65 at Spyglass Hill and Tony Finau posted a 67 there to join a tie for fourth at 10 under with Tom Kim of South Korea (65, Pebble Beach), England’s Justin Rose (69, Spyglass Hill) and Austin Eckroat (67, Pebble Beach).
At eight under for the tournament, McIlroy is tied for 13th with other big names including Collin Morikawa (67, Pebble Beach), Patrick Cantlay (70, Spyglass Hill) and Irishman Shane Lowry (70, Spyglass Hill).
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler is in a tie at seven under after posting 70 at Pebble Beach. All three of Scheffler’s birdies on Friday were in one three-hole stretch between the sixth and eighth. He is competing for the first time since injuring his hand while cooking a month ago.
Eighty players were eligible to compete in the signature event, but Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg withdrew on Friday citing an illness one day after dropping to last place with an opening-round 77.
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