Rory McIlroy felt he was in a strong position to end his major drought after maintaining his promising start to the Open at St Andrews.
The Northern Irishman followed up his first-round 66 with 68 on Friday to sit on 10 under at the halfway stage, three behind leader Cameron Smith.
World number two McIlroy, 33, has not won any of golf’s major prizes for eight years but, despite feeling he could have shot even better, feels he is now well poised. “Overall I felt like it was a good day,” said the 2014 Open champion. “I’m in a good position going into the weekend and that’s all I can really ask of myself. “There was a couple of short putts there that I could have held and could have been a bit closer to the lead.
It would have been nice to make a three at 18. “But it’s two really, really solid rounds to open with and really happy with that.” McIlroy has enjoyed a strong year on the major front, finishing in the top 10 at the Masters, US PGA Championship and US Open, but now feels he needs to push on and claim a title.