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Rory McIlroy insists he is \u201cstill right there\u201d at the Wells Fargo Championship despite heading into the weekend five shots off the lead following a disappointing finish to his second round.<\/p>\nRory McIlroy insists he is \u201cstill right there\u201d at the Wells Fargo Championship despite heading into the weekend five shots off the lead following a disappointing finish to his second round.<\/p>\n
McIlroy, who shared top spot after an opening 66, looked set for another good day as he moved to nine under with two holes remaining at Quail Hollow on Friday.<\/p>\n
However, he slipped back towards the chasing pack after dropping three shots on the final two par-fours and having to settle for a one-under-par 70.<\/p>\n
That left the world number four on six under overall and in a share for fourth place, five shots adrift of pacesetter Jason Dufner.<\/p>\n
Despite the gap, McIlroy is remaining optimistic at the midway stage in Charlotte.<\/p>\n
He said on pgatour.com: \u201cI\u2019m still right there going into the weekend. I just need to try and shake off that bad finish and get off to a good start tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
McIlroy had carded five birdies and one bogey in his opening 16 holes but much of that good work was undone at the death.<\/p>\n
On the short eighth \u2013 his penultimate hole of the day after starting on the 10th \u2013 McIlroy found a bunker off the tee and, despite being only 55 yards to the green, conspired to take another five shots as he recorded a double-bogey.<\/p>\n
The four-time major champion, looking to celebrate his 30th birthday this weekend by winning this event for a third time, also bogeyed the ninth \u2013 his last \u2013 after missing the green and failing to get up and down.<\/p>\n
McIlroy was better off the tee on Friday than he was on Thursday but ended up scoring higher.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cGolf. It\u2019s a funny game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stood up here (Thursday) night talking about how I got the most out of it yesterday, and today was the complete opposite. I turned a 66 into a 70.\u201d<\/p>\n
American Dufner followed up his opening 68 with a superb eight-under-par 63 that included an eagle, seven birdies and just the one dropped shot as he moved to 11 under.<\/p>\n
Max Homa also signed for a 63 \u2013 his blemish-free \u2013 to sit alongside Joel Dahmen in joint second place on 10 under. <\/p>\n
Dahmen, who was overnight leader alongside McIlroy, shot a second successive 66.<\/p>\n
Patrick Reed (69) is on six under with McIlroy, while England\u2019s Justin Rose (67) and Ireland\u2019s Seamus Power (68) are among a group of four players a further shot back.<\/p>\n