Rory McIlroy insists he is still in contention after reaching the halfway mark
of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am six shots off the lead.
A birdie at the last took the defending champion to nine-under-par after a second round 67 at Pebble Beach, trailing second-round leaders Akshay Bhatia and Ryo Hisatsune.
American duo Rickie Fowler and Sam Burns are a stroke off the lead, two clear of a group which includes Austria’s Sepp Straka.
Matt Fitzpatrick is in a large group on 10-under-par with fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood among those level with McIlroy.
McIlroy made a strong start, eagling the second and adding two more birdies, before dropping shots either side of another pair of birdies after the turn.
“I feel like I wasted a few shots out there or at least just wasn’t efficient with my scoring and didn’t capitalise on my good start the last couple of days,” he said.
Rory McIlroy waits to tee off on the 18th hole, where he picked up a birdie
“I played pretty good but with the weather coming in on Sunday, [Saturday’s] going to be a really important day to get yourself in position.
“Sunday looks like it could be pretty messy and a lot of things could happen, so the closer you are to the lead Sunday the better. Even if I am a few behind going into Sunday, everyone will have a chance given those conditions.”
Bhatia carded an eagle and six birdies in an eight-under-par round of 64 at Spyglass Hill to move alongside overnight leader Hisatsune at 15-under-par.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler picked up five shots in his last seven holes to move to six-under-par.
Watch the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Saturday from 4.30pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
Get the best prices and book a round at one of 1,700 courses across the UK & Ireland
