Rory McIlroy records a 72 to remain in the mix at the US Open

Rory McIlroy veered from the ridiculous to the sublime to remain firmly in contention for a first major title since 2014 in the US Open at Pinehurst.

McIlroy added a second round of 72 to his opening 65 to finish the day on three under par as playing partner Scottie Scheffler faced an anxious wait to see if he would avoid a first missed cut since August 2022, before eventually slipping under to stick around for the weekend.

Masters champion Scheffler, a hot pre-tournament favourite for his sixth win of the year, failed to record a single birdie for the first time in 169 rounds as he returned a 74 to finish five over.

Shane Lowry found himself in the same position and on the same score as Scheffler after following up Thursday's 74 with a round of 71 but as the projected cut moved from four over to five over, they both made it.

The 2019 Open champion carded 14 pars in his opening 14 holes, demonstrating excellent scrambling skills on a hugely difficult day for scoring.

A birdie at the par-5 fifth hole (his 14th) took him under par for the day but he bogeyed the par 3s at the sixth and ninth to fall back to five-over par.

US Open: Day 2 updates

Bryson DeChambeau made five birdies, including from tap-in range on the 18th, to set the early club house lead on four-under following an eventful 69.

DeChambeau was eventually joined at the top of the leaderboard by Patrick Cantlay and Thomas Detry before they were overtaken by Sweden's Ludvig Aberg whose round of 69 saw him finish the day on five-under.

McIlroy had hoped to exploit ideal conditions and fresh greens on Friday morning but hit a mediocre chip from short of the green on his opening hole, the par-five 10th, and was unable to convert the birdie putt from 12 feet.

The first 5 on