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Rory McIlroy enjoying his golf ahead of Masters despite hectic schedule

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Rory McIlroy insists he has enjoyed his busy early-season schedule and is happy with his game as he remained in contention at Bay Hill with a second-round 70

Rory McIlroy insisted he is enjoying his busy early-season schedule and feels his game is trending in the right direction with the Masters now less than three weeks away.

McIlroy admitted his second-round 70 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was "scrappier" than he would have liked, but a switch to a longer putter at Bay Hill has contributed to a more confident performance on the greens this week.

Rory McIlroy during the second round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented By MasterCard at Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 16, 2018 in Orlando, Florida.

The 28-year-old is playing in his seventh tournament in nine weeks, and he will also compete in next week's WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Texas to complete his preparations for the first major of the year at Augusta National.

"I definitely don't feel like I've got stale or in any way frustrated or feel like it's tedious playing all these weeks in a row or monotonous in any way," said McIlroy, who endured a frustrating 2017 season which was disrupted by a troublesome rib-joint problem.

"I like being out here, I like playing golf, and I feel like over the last couple of months of 2017 into this year I sort of rediscovered my love for the game a little bit. I'm even enjoying playing casual rounds of golf more."

Rory McIlroy during the second round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented By MasterCard at Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 16, 2018 in Orlando, Florida.
Image: McIlroy is happier with his game despite making three bogeys on day two

McIlroy was five under after 10 holes in his opening round before pulling his final tee shot out of bounds and closing with a double-bogey six, but he clawed both shots within six holes on Friday, following a birdie at 13 with a 25-foot putt for another at the 15th.

But mistakes off the tee at the first two holes on the front nine cost him back-to-back bogeys, although he responded with three consecutive birdies from the fourth which got him back to six under for the tournament.

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However, McIlroy's approach to the eighth came up short and found the water hazard, and he did well to hole a 12-foot putt for bogey before a par at the ninth left him six shots behind clubhouse leaders Henrik Stenson and Bryson DeChambeau.

Rory McIlroy during the second round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented By MasterCard at Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 16, 2018 in Orlando, Florida.
Image: McIlroy is six shots adrift of the lead at the halfway stage

"It was okay, but it was a little scrappier today than it was yesterday," he added. "A few more missed greens, or felt like that anyway, but my short game was good, my putting was good, and I played the par-fives a little bit better. It was still not quite the way I wanted to, but I would have been pleased if it was something in the 60s and shooting 70 is okay.

"To birdie four, five and six was nice, so that was better. It's been much better this week, so I'm happy with that. I feel good, I'm six behind, but Henrik's played great and I'm going to have to play very, very good golf on the weekend to catch him. But I'm in a better position this Friday than I was last Friday, so I'll take anything I can get."

McIlroy also insisted that playing in Austin next week was an ideal way to round off his build-up to the Masters as he bids to complete a career Grand Slam of majors at Augusta.

Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler during the second round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented By MasterCard at Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 16, 2018 in Orlando, Florida.
Image: McIlroy believes playing in next week's WGC-Match Play is good preparation for the Masters

"You're reacting to what's going on in front of you and hopefully you're in a position at Augusta where you need to do that as well," said McIlroy, who remains without a victory since clinching the Tour Championship the week before the Ryder Cup back in 2016.

"There's enough leaderboards out there to know where you're at at all times, so if you're playing well in Match Play and you're reacting well to what's happening right there in front of you, there's no reason why you can't do that in a couple weeks after.

"You get three rounds, the last round that you play might not mean much, but it's still three good days to test your game and I like it. I've always liked the Match Play, I liked it in both formats and I've done well in both formats. I like Austin, I like the golf course, it's a good one, I feel like it's a good one to play."

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