Rory McIlroy birdied four of his last nine holes, but still trails Daniel Berger by nine shots at the halfway mark of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The American stretched his overnight lead from three strokes to five as a second round 68 left him on 13-under-par at Bay Hill.
Compatriot Akshay Bhatia was five shots off the lead after a 66, while Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg was a shot further back alongside American duo Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa.
Berger started the day with a 25-foot birdie putt on the opening hole and carried the momentum with three more birdies on the back nine.
After an opening 72, McIlroy was level par at the turn before picking up four shots in seven holes to move into a share of ninth – one ahead of world No 1 Scottie Scheffler.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood made three birdies in his back nine to finish with a 60 and lie on one-over-par after flirting with the cut line.
“Yesterday was really disappointing, because it was just an odd day where I was just, you know, crap,” Fleetwood told PGATour.com after the second round.
“Last year I made the cut on the mark here. I played really well over the weekend. Just got to keep that in mind.”
Justin Thomas, competing for the first time since the Ryder Cup in September because of surgery on his lower back, endured a difficult return to the PGA Tour,
The two-time PGA Championship winner opened with a 79 and followed with another 79 to finish last in the field at 14-over.
“I’m trying as hard as I can to give myself a little bit of grace of how long I haven’t played and how difficult this sport can be,” Thomas said. “But at the same time, I expect more out of myself. I don’t think there’s any situation where I feel like I should shoot 14-over par for two days.”
PA
