McIlroy loses ground on leaders at Tour Championship

Rory McIlroy shot a second round 67 at the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta, but fell further adrift of the clubhouse lead.

Playing through the pain to shoot an even-par 70 on round one, McIlroy began the day three shots adrift of Collin Morikawa.

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Back spasms were still an issue for the 34-year-old, who finished the round half a dozen shots behind the American and Viktor Hovland who jointly lead the way on 16-under par, with the Norwegian continuing his recent scintillated form.

The 25-year-old, who will be a key player in Europe's Ryder Cup team next month, shot a course-record 61 to win the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields on Sunday.

But having opened with a two-under 68 and made the turn at one-under for his second round, the world number five found a flurry of birdies - five in six holes from the 12th - to card a 64.

That catapulted him into a share of the lead on 16 under, having started the week at eight under due to the FedEx Cup's weighting system for the season-ending event.

"I felt like a did a lot of the same stuff as yesterday. The front nine was decent but it was nice to get it going in the back nine," Hovland told Sky Sports.

"We have all been grinding the whole year to be here and I'm in a great spot but we're only halfway there.

"Hopefully the putter stays hot and I keep hitting fairways.

"When things feel good you just trust your feels and stand over it with very little negative emotion. When it is that easy you just keep it that easy."

Overnight leader Morikawa, who posted his own round of 61 on Thursday, joined him with a birdie at the last to match his round of 64, with world number one Scottie Scheffler in third two shots behind after a 65.