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Rory McIlroy carded a 2-under 70 in the second round of the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational to aggregate at 1-under after two rounds. He finished the day at T30, six strokes back.
After 36 holes, it was fixed at 3-over, and the players finishing below 53 and ties bowed out of the event. Following a 73 in the opening round, McIlroy started the Friday round with a birdie on the second hole. He then made two bogeys on the next four holes before finishing the front nine with two more birdies.
The World No. 2 golfer didn't have an ideal start to the back nine either, as he sank two back-to-back bogeys and was 1-over after 11 holes. He made some recovery with three birdies on the next five holes and finished the day at 2-under.
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The 34-year-old Northern Irishman started the season with a runner-up finish and a win on the DP World Tour. However, it has been a different story on the PGA Tour, as he has yet to break into the top 10 of any event. He has so far made three starts, with T21 being his best result.
During the post-round interview, McIlroy spoke about the changes he felt after spending time doing a putting practice with coach Brad Faxon on Thursday evening.
"I don't know what the stats look like, but definitely felt a little better out there," said McIlroy. "Didn't work on much. I mean, speed, I felt my speed was just a bit off more than anything. The greens look faster than what they are, so just trying to be a little more assertive with my speeds.
"Worked on a couple little things. I sort of sometimes with the mallet, because it is so much easier to start it on line, you get a little lazy. So, I brought the blade out last night just to hit a few putts to sort of get a feel of what I need to do to get the ball to the start on line with a real putter. A little bit of sort of transition work from sort of back swing to through swing in the stroke," he added.
While McIlroy, the last time's runner-up, was able to make it to the weekend at Bay Hill, defending champion Kurt Kitayama couldn't repeat last year's magic. Kitayama had a horrible two days at the event, as he bowed out early after shooting 78 and 73 in the two rounds.
Following Friday's play, Scottie Scheffler, Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark, Shane Lowry, Hideki Matsuyama, and Russell Henley are sharing the joint one-stroke lead in the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational after aggregating at 7-under.
When will Rory McIlroy begin the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational?
The four-time major champion is grouped with Jordan Spieth for the third round of the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational. McIlroy and Spieth will tee off from the first tee of Bay Hill on Saturday, March 9, at 10:50 am ET.
The third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational will begin at 8:45 am ET, and Rickie Fowler and Christiaan Bezuidenhout will be the first pair to tee off on Saturday.
