Rory McIlroy carded a four-under-par 67 for the second successive day to finish three strokes off the pace following round two of the Cognizant Classic in Florida.
Northern Irishman McIlroy is among eight players tied for sixth place, alongside Ireland’s Shane Lowry and England’s David Skinns, after hitting six birdies and two bogeys on Friday.
McIlroy said that while he “didn’t get off to the greatest of starts”, he bounced back to finish strongly.
“I think it is just one of those courses where you have just got to stay super patient, knowing that the scoring is good, but people aren’t going to get away from you here,” he said.
“I think I did a good job of staying patient until the end and that patience was rewarded.”
Lowry has also posted consecutive scores of 67, while world number 278 Skinns, who is without a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour, posted a two-under-par 69 following his opening-day 65.
Bud Cauley leads the way on 11 under par, with fellow American Austin Eckroat and South Africa’s Garrick Higgo each one shot behind.
The last time Cauley was in the top five after any round was at the 2020 PGA Championship.
Belgium’s Thomas Detry is in last position – 11 over par – after he six-putted the 461-yard par-four sixth hole from 57 feet, despite knocking his first effort to eight feet.
The 31-year-old finished with a quadruple bogey and the most putts on one hole on the PGA Tour in four years.
Related: Daniel Brown takes three-shot lead in South Africa
| Pos. | Player | To Par | Thru | Today | R1 | R2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bud Cauley | -11 | F | -6 | 66 | 65 | 131 |
| T2 | Austin Eckroat | -10 | F | -4 | 65 | 67 | 132 |
| T2 | Garrick Higgo | -10 | F | -6 | 67 | 65 | 132 |
| T4 | Kevin Yu | -9 | F | -4 | 66 | 67 | 133 |
| T4 | Victor Perez | -9 | F | -5 | 67 | 66 | 133 |
| T6 | David Skinns | -8 | F | -2 | 65 | 69 | 134 |
| T6 | Andrew Novak | -8 | F | -2 | 65 | 69 | 134 |
| T6 | C.T. Pan | -8 | F | -3 | 66 | 68 | 134 |
| T6 | Shane Lowry | -8 | F | -4 | 67 | 67 | 134 |
| T6 | Jake Knapp | -8 | F | -5 | 68 | 66 | 134 |
| T6 | Rory McIlroy | -8 | F | -4 | 67 | 67 | 134 |
| T6 | Cameron Young | -8 | F | -2 | 65 | 69 | 134 |
| T6 | Sam Ryder | -8 | F | -3 | 66 | 68 | 134 |
| T14 | K.H. Lee | -7 | F | -5 | 69 | 66 | 135 |
| T14 | Matthieu Pavon | -7 | F | -3 | 67 | 68 | 135 |
| T14 | Parker Coody | -7 | F | -5 | 69 | 66 | 135 |
| T17 | Nico Echavarria | -6 | F | -2 | 67 | 69 | 136 |
| T17 | Tom Kim | -6 | F | -3 | 68 | 68 | 136 |
| T17 | Chad Ramey | -6 | F | +1 | 64 | 72 | 136 |
| T17 | Peter Malnati | -6 | F | -3 | 68 | 68 | 136 |
| T17 | Alexander Björk | -6 | F | -4 | 69 | 67 | 136 |
| T17 | Max Greyserman | -6 | 17 | -5 | 70 | - | 70 |
| T17 | Rico Hoey | -6 | 16 | -4 | 69 | - | 69 |
| T24 | Martin Laird | -5 | F | -2 | 68 | 69 | 137 |
| T24 | Ryan Fox | -5 | F | -3 | 69 | 68 | 137 |
| T24 | Min Woo Lee | -5 | F | -1 | 67 | 70 | 137 |
| T24 | Erik van Rooyen | -5 | F | Par | 66 | 71 | 137 |
| T24 | Matt Fitzpatrick | -5 | F | -4 | 70 | 67 | 137 |
| T24 | Alex Noren | -5 | F | -1 | 67 | 70 | 137 |
| T24 | Joseph Bramlett | -5 | F | -2 | 68 | 69 | 137 |
| T24 | Billy Horschel | -5 | F | Par | 66 | 71 | 137 |
| T24 | Chris Kirk | -5 | F | -1 | 67 | 70 | 137 |
| T24 | Nick Dunlap | -5 | F | -1 | 67 | 70 | 137 |
| T24 | Davis Riley | -5 | F | -5 | 71 | 66 | 137 |
| T24 | Chesson Hadley | -5 | F | +1 | 65 | 72 | 137 |
| T36 | S.H. Kim | -4 | F | +3 | 64 | 74 | 138 |
| T36 | Tyson Alexander | -4 | F | -1 | 68 | 70 | 138 |
| T36 | Rickie Fowler | -4 | F | -4 | 71 | 67 | 138 |
| T36 | Byeong Hun An | -4 | F | Par | 67 | 71 | 138 |
| T36 | Davis Thompson | -4 | F | Par | 67 | 71 | 138 |
| T36 | Keith Mitchell | -4 | F | -1 | 68 | 70 | 138 |
| T36 | Jacob Bridgeman | -4 | 15 | -3 | 70 | - | 70 |
| T43 | Greyson Sigg | -3 | F | -2 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T43 | David Lipsky | -3 | F | Par | 68 | 71 | 139 |
| T43 | Tom Hoge | -3 | F | -2 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T43 | Lucas Glover | -3 | F | Par | 68 | 71 | 139 |
| T43 | Adam Schenk | -3 | F | -2 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T43 | Carson Young | -3 | F | Par | 68 | 71 | 139 |
| T43 | Chris Gotterup | -3 | F | -2 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T43 | Ben Silverman | -3 | F | Par | 68 | 71 | 139 |
| T43 | Zach Johnson | -3 | F | -3 | 71 | 68 | 139 |
| T43 | Beau Hossler | -3 | F | -1 | 69 | 70 | 139 |
| T53 | Taylor Montgomery | -2 | F | -2 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| T53 | Troy Merritt | -2 | F | +1 | 68 | 72 | 140 |
| T53 | Russell Henley | -2 | F | -2 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| T53 | Vincent Norrman | -2 | F | -2 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| T53 | Justin Rose | -2 | F | Par | 69 | 71 | 140 |
| T53 | Mac Meissner | -2 | F | -3 | 72 | 68 | 140 |
| T53 | Robert MacIntyre | -2 | F | +1 | 68 | 72 | 140 |
| T53 | Maverick McNealy | -2 | F | -1 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| T53 | Mark Hubbard | -2 | F | +1 | 68 | 72 | 140 |
| T53 | Corey Conners | -2 | F | Par | 69 | 71 | 140 |
| T53 | Camilo Villegas | -2 | F | Par | 69 | 71 | 140 |
| T53 | J.T. Poston | -2 | F | Par | 69 | 71 | 140 |
| T53 | Doug Ghim | -2 | F | +1 | 68 | 72 | 140 |
| T53 | Justin Suh | -2 | 17 | Par | 69 | - | 69 |
| T53 | Jorge Campillo | -2 | 17 | -2 | 71 | - | 71 |
| T53 | Chan Kim | -2 | 17 | Par | 69 | - | 69 |
| T69 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | -1 | F | Par | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T69 | Zac Blair | -1 | F | Par | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T69 | Denny McCarthy | -1 | F | +1 | 69 | 72 | 141 |
| T69 | Taylor Pendrith | -1 | F | +1 | 69 | 72 | 141 |
| T69 | Rasmus Højgaard | -1 | F | Par | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T69 | Ben Martin | -1 | F | Par | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T69 | Harry Hall | -1 | F | +2 | 68 | 73 | 141 |
| T69 | Stephan Jaeger | -1 | F | Par | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T69 | Jimmy Stanger | -1 | 17 | +1 | 69 | - | 69 |
| T69 | Ryo Hisatsune | -1 | 17 | +2 | 68 | - | 68 |
| T79 | Robby Shelton | Par | F | -2 | 73 | 69 | 142 |
| T79 | Luke List | Par | F | +1 | 70 | 72 | 142 |
| T79 | Sepp Straka | Par | F | +3 | 68 | 74 | 142 |
| T79 | Aaron Baddeley | Par | F | Par | 71 | 71 | 142 |
| T79 | Chris Crawford | Par | F | +1 | 70 | 72 | 142 |
| T79 | Norman Xiong | Par | F | +1 | 70 | 72 | 142 |
| T79 | Ryan Palmer | Par | F | -2 | 73 | 69 | 142 |
| T79 | Alex Smalley | Par | F | Par | 71 | 71 | 142 |
| T79 | Francesco Molinari | Par | F | +1 | 70 | 72 | 142 |
| T79 | Ryan Brehm | Par | F | +2 | 69 | 73 | 142 |
| T79 | Matt NeSmith | Par | F | +4 | 67 | 75 | 142 |
| T79 | Sami Valimaki | Par | F | -4 | 75 | 67 | 142 |
| T91 | Ben Griffin | +1 | F | +1 | 71 | 72 | 143 |
| T91 | Kevin Streelman | +1 | F | Par | 72 | 71 | 143 |
| T91 | Kevin Dougherty | +1 | F | +4 | 68 | 75 | 143 |
| T91 | Brendon Todd | +1 | F | +1 | 71 | 72 | 143 |
| T91 | Daniel Berger | +1 | F | +4 | 68 | 75 | 143 |
| T91 | Sungjae Im | +1 | F | +1 | 71 | 72 | 143 |
| T91 | Justin Lower | +1 | F | -1 | 73 | 70 | 143 |
| T91 | Thorbjørn Olesen | +1 | F | +1 | 71 | 72 | 143 |
| T91 | Fred Biondi | +1 | F | +1 | 71 | 72 | 143 |
| T91 | Tom Whitney | +1 | F | +5 | 67 | 76 | 143 |
| T91 | Nick Hardy | +1 | F | +1 | 71 | 72 | 143 |
| T91 | Matti Schmid | +1 | F | Par | 72 | 71 | 143 |
| T91 | Tyler Collet | +1 | 17 | +2 | 70 | - | 70 |
| T104 | Joel Dahmen | +2 | F | +2 | 71 | 73 | 144 |
| T104 | Matt Kuchar | +2 | F | -1 | 74 | 70 | 144 |
| T104 | Gary Woodland | +2 | F | +3 | 70 | 74 | 144 |
| T104 | Scott Stallings | +2 | F | +2 | 71 | 73 | 144 |
| T104 | Padraig Harrington | +2 | F | +2 | 71 | 73 | 144 |
| T104 | Nate Lashley | +2 | F | +3 | 70 | 74 | 144 |
| T104 | Paul Barjon | +2 | F | +1 | 72 | 72 | 144 |
| T104 | Callum Tarren | +2 | F | +3 | 70 | 74 | 144 |
| T104 | Ryan Moore | +2 | F | +8 | 65 | 79 | 144 |
| T104 | Tyler Duncan | +2 | F | +2 | 71 | 73 | 144 |
| T104 | Sam Stevens | +2 | F | +1 | 72 | 72 | 144 |
| T104 | Matt Wallace | +2 | F | +3 | 70 | 74 | 144 |
| T116 | Jeff Overton | +3 | F | +3 | 71 | 74 | 145 |
| T116 | Adam Svensson | +3 | F | +4 | 70 | 75 | 145 |
| T116 | Cameron Champ | +3 | F | +5 | 69 | 76 | 145 |
| T116 | Hayden Buckley | +3 | F | +5 | 69 | 76 | 145 |
| T116 | Akshay Bhatia | +3 | F | +3 | 71 | 74 | 145 |
| T121 | Robert Garrigus | +4 | F | +4 | 71 | 75 | 146 |
| T121 | Pierceson Coody | +4 | F | +4 | 71 | 75 | 146 |
| T121 | Nicholas Lindheim | +4 | F | +1 | 74 | 72 | 146 |
| T121 | Ben Kohles | +4 | F | +6 | 69 | 77 | 146 |
| T121 | Michael Gligic | +4 | F | +5 | 70 | 76 | 146 |
| T126 | Lee Hodges | +5 | F | +5 | 71 | 76 | 147 |
| T126 | Ben Taylor | +5 | F | +8 | 68 | 79 | 147 |
| T126 | Patrick Fishburn | +5 | F | +2 | 74 | 73 | 147 |
| T126 | Braden Shattuck | +5 | F | +4 | 72 | 75 | 147 |
| T126 | Kevin Kisner | +5 | F | -1 | 77 | 70 | 147 |
| T126 | Adrien Dumont de Chassart | +5 | F | +5 | 71 | 76 | 147 |
| T126 | Chase Johnson | +5 | 15 | +1 | 75 | - | 75 |
| T133 | Carl Yuan | +6 | F | +6 | 71 | 77 | 148 |
| T133 | Joe Highsmith | +6 | F | +7 | 70 | 78 | 148 |
| T133 | Alejandro Tosti | +6 | F | +3 | 74 | 74 | 148 |
| T133 | Brandt Snedeker | +6 | F | +3 | 74 | 74 | 148 |
| T133 | Brandon Wu | +6 | F | +3 | 74 | 74 | 148 |
| T138 | Patton Kizzire | +7 | F | +5 | 73 | 76 | 149 |
| T138 | Eric Cole | +7 | F | Par | 78 | 71 | 149 |
| T138 | Dylan Wu | +7 | F | +4 | 74 | 75 | 149 |
| T138 | J.B. Holmes | +7 | F | +10 | 68 | 81 | 149 |
| T138 | Michael Kim | +7 | F | +4 | 74 | 75 | 149 |
| 143 | Thomas Detry | +11 | F | +9 | 73 | 80 | 153 |
| W/D | Chandler Phillips | - | - | - | 66 | - | 66 |
