Rory McIlroy stormed up the leaderboard at the Travelers Championship after carding a six-under 64 in the second round at TPC River Highlands.
The world No 3 had been eight shots off the lead at the start of the day after posting five birdies and five bogeys alongside a maiden PGA Tour hole-in-one in his opening round.
But McIlroy shot up the leaderboard on Friday as he rattled in eight birdies, only to then double-bogey his penultimate hole - the scene of that hole-in-one at the par-three eighth - and have to settle for a six-under round.
That put McIlroy into a tie for 10th place on eight under with a host of players including defending champion Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland.
But McIlroy still has plenty of ground to make up if he is to secure a maiden Travelers Championship title with Americans Keegan Bradley and Denny McCarthy tied for the lead on 15 under par and holding a two-shot advantage over the field.
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World No 1 Scottie Scheffler sits on seven under par alongside Shane Lowry, Patrick Cantlay, Aaron Rai and Hideki Matsuyama among others.
Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Thomas are a further shot back on six under while US Open champion Wyndham Clark sits on five under par after carding a three-under 67.
But Masters champion Jon Rahm is among some big names missing out on the weekend. The Spaniard posted a one-over-par 71 to finish on two under with the cut mark set to be four under par.
Tommy Fleetwood also finished on two under overall, while Collin Morikawa could not recover enough from his opening round 74 as a seven-under 63 on Friday still left him one shot outside the cut mark.
How McIlroy surged up leaderboard
McIlroy made a blistering start to his round with five birdies before making the turn.
The first of those would come on his second hole, the par-three 11th, before notching back-to-back gains on the 14th and 15th as he had done in his first round.
McIlroy would also end his first nine with consecutive gains and two more birdies would follow at the par-four second and third holes as he made the turn.
When he birdied his 15th hole, the par-five sixth, McIlroy had a chance of posting a 59.
But that would end on the par-three eighth. Having seen his tee shot find the cup on Thursday, it would be much different emotions on Friday as his tee shot finished up in the water.
McIlroy's bogey putt rolled just past the hole as he had to settle for a five and he also found himself in trouble at the last with a wayward drive right.
But McIlroy was able to recover to save par and put himself into contention to win the Travelers Championship for a first time heading into the weekend.
"It was good. I played better today than I played yesterday. I wasn't erratic - I made a lot of sloppy mistakes yesterday and that was a little better today," McIlroy said post-round.
"After the hole-in-one on eight yesterday, to make double bogey there today it's sort of like may as well have just made two threes.
"Overall it was just better and played a good round of golf to get myself back in the tournament today.
"I arrived late on Wednesday and played a quick nine holes but I felt like yesterday was sort of like my practice round so I felt a little more comfortable out there today."
Bradley, McCarthy lead after 36-hole course record
Bradley and McCarthy hold a two-shot lead and head into the weekend on 15 under par, a 36-hole course record at TPC River Highlands.
The pair broke the 36-hole mark of 14 under set by Justin Rose in 2010 and matched last year by Schauffele in his run to the title.
McCarthy followed Thursday afternoon's red-hot round of 60 with a 65 on Friday morning. He recovered from a bogey on the par-four second hole, his first and only bogey of the tournament, with six birdies, five on the back nine.
"It's nice, but golf tournaments aren't 36 holes unfortunately, so I know there is still a lot of golf left," said McCarthy.
"I'm playing some really nice golf, so I'm looking forward to having fun this weekend and I'm looking forward to the challenge."
Bradley opened with a 62, and on Friday used a run of five straight birdies on the back nine for a seven-under 63.
Bradley's successful birdie putts included a 58-footer at the third, a 34 1/2-footer at the 12th and a left-to-right 15 1/2-footer at the 15th.
Chez Reavie, the 2019 winner, was two strokes back after a 63. Eric Cole had a 65 to get to 11 under.
Australia's Adam Scott - who like McCarthy was on 59 watch on Thursday afternoon before signing for a 62 - shot a 68 on Friday and is tied for third at 10 under.
Rahm makes early exit
However world No 2 Rahm's wait for a maiden Travelers victory extends to another year after mixing three bogeys with two birdies on Friday.
Starting at the par-five 10th, the Spaniard bogeyed his opening hole and while he recovered that shot with a birdie at the next par-five 13th, another bogey would follow at the par-three 16th.
After five consecutive pars around the turn, another dropped shot would come at the fourth. Rahm would make birdie two holes later, but he was unable to find further gains over his closing three holes.