Rory McIlroy takes comfort from hanging tough at US PGA

Rory McIlroy adopted a glass-half-full mentality in the wake of an underwhelming second round at the US PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

McIlroy could only muster a 71 after his stellar opening 65 in Tulsa and the four-time major winner now finds himself five shots off the pace set by Will Zalatoris at the halfway point.

It took the Holywood golfer 12 holes to record his one and only birdie of the day, but clutch finishes on the final three holes of his round keep him in contention.

"It wasn't the easiest day for me," the 33-year-old told RTÉ Sport. "I certainly didn't play the way I played yesterday, but I hung in there, I battled well and I made some good up and downs when I needed to.

"I could have converted a few more chances that I gave myself on the back nine, but overall it was the sort of day that could have got away from me, and I could have shot a 73 or 74 and that really would have had a big hill to climb.

"The two guys who are at the top of the leaderboard are very new to this position. They’ve obviously played very well, but I thought the three up and downs in the last three holes were important just to sort of keep myself within a few shots."

Oklahoma is set to experience very different weather conditions when the players embark on their third round, with wind and rain anticipated, while temperatures are set to plummet from 30C to the mid-teens.

"We’re going to see a completely different golf course than we’ve seen the last couple of days," McIlroy added.

"The wind is going to be from the opposite direction, so it’s going to be a different test for everyone and everyone is going to have to adapt."

Seamus Power was one of those players who experienced the worst of the conditions on Friday, making his round of 69