Rory McIlroy birdied his last three holes to squeeze inside the projected cut line in the second round of the Houston Open as world number one Scottie Scheffler opened a one-shot lead with a course record 62.
Scheffler set the pace with eight birdies and no bogeys to move to 11 under par for the tournament, enjoying the best of the early conditions at Memorial Park before thunderstorms meant play was suspended.
Canadian Taylor Pendrith is a shot back on 10 under alongside Colombian Nico Echavarria, who was nine under for the day but facing a chip from the edge of the green on the 17th to save par when bad light stopped play.
McIlroy carded a 66 to finish on four under for the day and the tournament, while England’s Danny Willett and Matt Wallace are both on two under, one shot outside the current projected cut line.
They were among those left waiting for the completion of the second round, which is due to resume at 13:30 GMT on Saturday, to see if they would play over the weekend.
McIlroy had no such concerns, however, after sinking a series of smart putts in his late run of birdies.
The Northern Ireland player’s round was interrupted for two hours as the thunderstorms passed, and darkness was falling as his finished.
It was an improvement on a level-par opening round which he described as “pedestrian”, but he still slipped further off the pace, seven shots behind leader Scheffler.
“I holed a couple of putts,” McIlroy said. “That was it. It was nice to see a couple putts go in and get finished.
“It was a little dicey there at the end. Nice to finish the round the way I did.”
Scheffler, meanwhile, posted his best round since returning from a hand injury sustained while cooking over Christmas.
He remains bogey-free for his first 36 holes, charging to the front after building on an opening three-under 67, as he warms up for the defence of his US Masters title in April.
“It was important for me to stay patient out there,” said Scheffler. “It was nice to get off to a good start and kind of hold the momentum and keep the card clean.”
