Saturday 2 July 2016 16:46, UK
Rory McIlroy produced one of his best rounds of the season to charge into a share of the lead at the halfway stage of the 100th Open de France in Paris.
McIlroy made light of the testing conditions at a soft and damp Le Golf National as he rolled in six birdies to claim the outright lead, although a mistake at the last took a little gloss off a superb 66 which left him tied at the top with Thongchai Jaidee, Mikko Ilonen, Brandon Stone and Jeunghun Wang.
The world No 4 struggled for consistency during his opening 71 in his first competitive round since missing the cut at the US Open last month, but his all-round game was in fine order on day two at the 2018 Ryder Cup venue.
McIlroy got up and running with a well-crafted birdie at the long third, and he then vaulted to within a shot of the lead with three birdies in four holes which capped a faultless, outward 32.
The four-time major winner converted further excellent approaches at the 13th and 14th to go clear of the field on six under, and he was agonisingly close to birdies at the next two holes before he scrambled a good par at 17.
But McIlroy tugged his drive at the last into water on the left, although he managed to limit the damage to a bogey and was understandably in good spirits heading into the weekend.
"I played very well, I didn't really put a foot wrong until the 18th," he said. "I'm really happy with how I played out there. I'm still continuing to work hard and think hard on my golf swing, but it seems to be working so far this week, so I'll continue to do that.
"It was disappointing to make five at the last, but it won't be the only bogey I make this week. Hopefully I can get it back quickly again tomorrow morning and retake sole possession of the lead.
"I putted really well today, even the ones that didn't go in looked like they would go in. But 66 on that golf course in those conditions, I'll take that any day."
Jaidee was first into the clubhouse on five under after he birdied two of his last four holes to salvage a one-under 70, while Ilonen and Stone are primed to grab two of the four Open places on offer both added solid 68s to their opening 69s - with Stone making birdies at three of his last four holes.
Wang, twice a winner on the European Tour in May, completed the quintet at the top of the leaderboard when he rolled in his sixth birdie putt of the day at the last to match McIlroy's 66.
The leading five have a one-shot advantage over Bernd Wiesberger, the "retired" Anders Hansen and former Ryder Cup star Nicolas Colsaerts.
Wiesberger looked to be heading for the outright lead when he began his second round with birdies at 10 and 11 before reeling off three in a row from the 15th to hit the front on nine under par.
But the Austrian undid much of his fine early work when he endured some water torture at the 18th and ran up a triple-bogey seven, and he also dropped shots at his final two holes to return a disappointing 71.
Danish veteran Hansen, who insists he will slip back into retirement after Sunday's final round, made three birdies in four holes on the back nine and kept a bogey off his card in a 68, while Colsaerts was also bogey-free in his 68.
Andy Sullivan fired a battling 70 and sits a shot further adrift alongside fellow Ryder Cup hopefuls Joost Luiten, Francesco Molinari and Thomas Pieters, while first-round leader Lucas Bjerregaard slipped to two under after an erratic 74.
But Masters champion Danny Willett will have the weekend off for the second consecutive week as he continued to struggle on the greens in a 72 that dropped him to five over - two shots outside the cut mark.
