'I'll be right in it': Rory McIlroy targets good third round to remain in mix at the Open

The world number two went under par for the tournament with a second-round 67 at Royal Birkdale on Friday.

IN THE HUNT: Rory McIlroy on the 17th during day two of The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

Rory McIlroy has spotted an opportunity for further advancement up The Open leaderboard on Saturday as he targets a low third round to catapult him into the mix on moving day.

The world number two, chasing the seventh major of his stellar career and a second Claret Jug following his 2014 victory at Royal Liverpool, went under par for the tournament with a second-round 67 at Royal Birkdale on Friday.

Reaching one under at the halfway stage left the Irishman seven strokes adrift of overnight leader Lucas Herbert, one of two golfers alongside Sam Burns who equalled the major-record low round of 62 with their eight-under second rounds.

Burns, the US Open runner-up behind Wyndham Clark last month, jumped from three over to five under with his effort, three shots off the lead, while the back-to-back Masters champion improved his scoring by five from his opening-round 72 with a second round of four birdies and just one bogey, at the par-four sixth.

“It was a little better,” McIlroy said. “I felt like I had momentum coming off the end of the front nine there with the two birdies on eight and nine. I felt like I stole a little bit on the back.

“Look, I think the main objective today was to be here for the weekend, which I am. I felt like I left a couple out there. Then you look at the board and you see a couple of 62s, and you feel like you could have done a bit better.

“Yeah, get off to a decent start tomorrow. There's a couple of guys up there, this will be sort of their first experience of playing in the lead at a major championship on the weekend, so there's obviously some that are very experienced at it like Cam (Young, on six under) and Sam as well.

“I think if I can get off to a decent start tomorrow, be four- or five-under for the tournament, I'll be right in it.”

For the second day in a row, McIlroy’s driving was prodigious, reaching the par-four ninth green off the tee as he had done on Thursday but and just missing his 11ft eagle putt but taking birdie.

His putting did improve from Thursday following a pre-round conversation with coach Brad Faxon yet he admitted he was still not totally at ease on Birkdale’s greens as he outlined his possible approach for Saturday’s third round.

“It depends on the conditions and the way the wind direction is.

“I think I've driven the ball so well the last two days. I think anytime I can get a driver in my hand, I'm going to try to. I just feel like with how I'm feeling with the driver, I think it's a big advantage if I can get the ball down there and take out some of these fairway bunkers.

“I'll continue to do that when I can, and then I'm still trying to figure out these greens a little bit. I've struggled the last couple of days. It was a little better today, but still didn't feel 100 per cent comfortable. Hopefully try to figure that out as the week goes on.”