2024 Irish Open scores: Rory McIlroy in contention heading into the weekend at Royal County Down

McIlroy finds himself in position to claim a trophy on his native Northern Ireland

By Patrick McDonald Sep 13, 2024 at 9:55 am ET• 2 min read

Another under-par round at a difficult Royal County Down has Northern Ireland's very own in position to claim the 2024 Irish Open halfway through the event. Following up an opening 68 with a 1-under 70 on Friday, Rory McIlroy heads into the weekend at 4 under and only one off the pace set by the early 36-hole leaders Laurie Canter and Todd Clements.

"The conditions were quite benign for the first probably 11 or 12 holes," McIlroy said. "Felt like I could have done a little more to take advantage of them. But then, you know, once the sun sort of went away, it got a little colder again and the wind picked up and then those last few holes are playing quite difficult. So sort of felt like I played pretty good on the way in. Dropped one shot but overall, another under-par round, pretty pleased with."

Beginning his day on the second nine at Royal County Down, McIlroy meandered into his round. A left miss off the tee handcuffed the world No. 3 on the par-5 12th before another left miss — this time with an iron in hand — on the par-3 14th led to his second consecutive bogey on that hole.

Unlike Thursday when he followed up his bogey on No. 14 with another on No. 15, the 35-year-old made amends immediately. Connecting from just outside 25 feet, McIlroy put a circle on his scorecard and started maneuvering his way towards the top spot on the leaderboard.

27ft for birdie no.1 of the day for Rory 💪#AmgenIrishOpen pic.twitter.com/i4t4g6m8jh

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 13, 2024

An eagle on the par-5 1st from 12 feet helped the cause, but a dropped shot a few holes later on the par-4 5th ultimately put McIlroy at least one stroke behind heading into the weekend. While it may not be the pole position in which McIlroy wishes to find himself, it is a position he is all too familiar with as he attempts to grab his 41st professional victory and his 18th on the DP World Tour.