McIlroy likes his position heading into third round

Redeeming last year’s Sunday meltdown first required climbing onto the leaderboard at Augusta National Golf Club.

Rory McIlroy is halfway there.

The 22-year-old walked off the 18th green Friday well within striking distance of the leaders after a second-round 69. Combined with Thursday’s 71, he enters the weekend at 4-under par.

McIlroy grabbed a share of the lead at 5-under with birdies on both par-5s on the back nine, but his bogey out of the sand at 17 knocked him out of the top spot. He needed a long up-and-down from near the patron seating area left of 18 to save par and put him in a tie for third.

“I wouldn’t say I’m in a position to win yet, but we’ll see what happens tomorrow,” he said. “It will definitely be nice to feel like I’m in a good position going into Sunday.”

McIlroy, who blew a four-shot lead a year ago, has since proved his worth on Sundays, winning the U.S. Open last June in dominant fashion and climbing to No. 2 in the World Golf Ranking.

He already has shown his poise this week, bouncing back from poor play early. He opened the tournament with a double bogey on the first hole but managed three birdies for 35 on the front nine. Bogeys at 11 and 13 on Thursday set him back again, but he ended the first round with a pair of birdies for 1-under 71.

“I think the whole round yesterday was important to me – to not let the start get to me,” he said. “Those two birdies at the end really gave me some momentum going into today.”

McIlroy played a bogey-free front nine Friday. He birdied 13, then chipped over the greenside bunker at 15 to set up a 8-foot birdie putt, which he made to grab a share of the lead just as Lee Westwood double-bogeyed the 18th.

McIlroy lost the lead with the bogey on 17 but saved par at 18.

“As nice as the two birdies were yesterday, if I had finished with two bogeys today, it would have been just as bad,” he said. “It was great to get that up and down on 18. I felt like I played very well today, and if I had fell from 5 under to 3 under the last two holes, it would have been pretty disappointing.”

Instead, McIlroy’s 69 matched his Friday effort from a year ago as his second-best round at Augusta National. Though he shares his spot on the leaderboard, he is looking up to Fred Couples, who slipped on a green jacket with a Masters win in 1992. McIlroy was 2 at the time.

Whether or not he catches Couples this weekend, McIlroy acknowledged that the veteran golfer has an edge on him off the course.

“He’s just cool,” McIlroy said. “I hope I’m that cool when I’m 52.”