MELBOURNE – Amidst a touch of back-nine excitement at Royal Melbourne, Rory McIlroy clinched his spot for the weekend at the Australian Open. After posting a solid 3-under 68 on Friday, McIlroy ensured he stayed above the 36-hole cut line.

Standing at 2-under for the tournament, McIlroy found himself seven strokes adrift of leaders Daniel Rodriques, who impressed with a 64, and Rasmus Neergaard-Peterson, who carded a 66. Both stood strong with commanding 9-under totals of 133.

Just a stroke behind the top duo was Min Woo Lee, who delivered an impressive round of 65 on Friday to secure third place.

Adam Scott, who matched Lee’s 66, was tied for fourth alongside Cameron Smith, who bounced back with a 65. Smith notably avoided extending his streak of seven consecutive missed cuts. Scott and Lee shared the spotlight with McIlroy in the same featured group.

Beginning the day at 1-over after a round of 72 on Thursday, McIlroy was tied for 57th, trailing the leaders by seven shots. At that point, he was precariously perched just one shot within the anticipated cut mark of 2-over.

McIlroy’s Friday round included a birdie and eight pars on the front nine. He maintained momentum with four more pars until a hiccup on the par-5 14th, where he missed the fairway and found himself under a tea tree. An unfortunate whiff followed as his club got caught in a branch, but McIlroy displayed resilience, recovering to finish with a bogey 6.

That put him outside the 36-hole cut, but he birdied the next hole, the par-3 15th, to put himself back at even-par and safe, at least, at that stage.

He parred the 16th to stay at even-par then perhaps made his shot of the tournament — from the patchy rough on 17, swinging through a small bush this time, where he tapped in for birdie after a long eagle putt went just wide.

That moved McIlroy to 1-under on the tournament and up about 20 places on the leaderboard, leaving him safe for the weekend, particularly after he birdied the 18th.

“With the wind, it played like a different golf course today,” McIlroy said. “I certainly haven’t played my best over the past couple of days but it was nice to finish the way I did. Delighted to be here for the weekend . . . seven isn’t too far back.”

On his whiffed shot from under the trees, McIlory said: “Honestly I can’t remember the last time I had a fresh-air shot. Not one of my finer moments but nice to be able to come back over the last few holes.”

Co-leader Neergard-Peterson missed the cut last week at the Australian PGA Championship. at Royal Queensland in Brisbane.

“Certainly I feel like I’ve proved over the last year or so that I have the level to compete out here and be in the thick of things on Sunday,” Neergard-Petersen said.

The highlight of Australian Lee’s second round came when he holed out with a 9-iron from 176 meters for eagle on the par-4 10th, raising both arms and waving them in an airplane-style celebration.

“I know it was just random, but it just felt good,” Lee said. “It was a big crowd, so I was just doing random stuff.”

McIlroy, whose pre-tournament news conference included comments that Royal Melbourne was not the best sandbelt course in the city, had a wild opening round containing six bogeys and five birdies.

McIlroy, the Race to Dubai winner and who completed his career Grand Slam when he won the Masters this year, is making his first appearance at the Australian Open since 2015. He won it in 2013.

The winner of the Australian Open, which is the second event on the European tour’s new schedule of tournaments for late this year and 2026, receives a Masters exemption next year. And the top three finishers not already exempt will qualify for the British Open in 2026 at Royal Birkdale.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf