Like Tiger, Rory not as sharp on Day 2 at BMW

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Tiger Woods wasn’t the only BMW Championship co-leader who struggled to go low again Friday.

Rory McIlroy didn’t fare much better.

After a slow start, McIlroy birdied two of his last six holes to salvage a 1-under 69 and stay in the mix at Aronimink.

At 9-under 131, he dropped from a share of the early lead to four shots behind Xander Schauffele. McIlroy bested Woods by one shot, 69-70.

“It’s hard to stay patient whenever you know what you’ve done yesterday,” McIlroy said, referring to his opening 62. “I didn’t want to lose too much ground. I should have been a few better, but hopefully that’s it.”

Projected FedExCup standings

Full-field scores from BMW Championship

McIlroy missed three more fairways than in his opening round, reducing his number of reasonable birdie chances. He holed only 45 feet worth of putts on Day 2.

“I thought they were a little slower today, for some reason,” he said. “I felt like I couldn’t get the ball to the hole, and when I did I was reading too much break. I sort of battled the first 12 holes, and then it was nice to make a couple of birdies on the way in.”