Rory McIlroy admits his swing is a work in progress but he was pleased to follow an opening 73 with a 69 that still left him 12 strokes adrift of Xander Schauffle in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek.

After hitting just four fairways and only nine greens in regulation on day one, the world No 4 found eight fairways and 13 greens to move up 11 spots to tied 26th in two-under as Schauffele added a 64 to his opening 66 to lead by three strokes from Tyrrell Hatton on 14-under.

Scores

“Better, much better,” McIlroy said of his second round. “You know, it's hard, I've spent sort of the last two weeks working on my golf swing and I've maybe played a total of nine holes. I've just spent that time on the range.

“Then trying to go from the range, where every swing that you're making with a thought or two or three, to on the golf course, where if you have one, that's enough. Caught myself a few times yesterday, too many thoughts out there and not really freeing myself up. Today, did a better job of that. Mentally freed myself up, didn't worry too much, didn't try to be too perfect and hit some really good shots. Yeah, it was better.”

Hopeful he can improve before next week’s ZOZO Championship at Sherwood Country Club in Los Angeles, which will be his final event before the Masters, he added: “As I said, I did a better job of it today. I did it last year. I remember going into Memorial after working on my swing a lot, missed the cut, too many thoughts, worked on some stuff over the weekend and I went to Canada the next week and won by seven.

“It's just about doing the work, but then almost forgetting the work when you get out on the course and just let yourself be a little more athletic.”

McIlroy spent some time during his recent three week break to add speed to his swing and also gone to a lighter shaft to keep the club in front of him.

“I think that's why sometimes when you see guys trying to make like a major swing change, that it's a struggle, right? It's a struggle. You're thinking so much about what you're trying to do in your golf swing rather than where you're really trying to hit the ball. I played a little too much golf swing yesterday and today I just sort of tried to see my shots more and visualize a little more and it was better.

“I guess my goal is to get on that first tee and almost have a little bit of amnesia and forget about what I've just done. If I can do that for the next two days, that will be a good goal.

“Twelve back going into the weekend, it's going to take something very special to catch up to Xander. But if I play well, I can post a good finish and give myself some confidence going into Sherwood.”

Shane Lowry also found the going tough in Las Vegas, adding a 74 to his opening 72 to lie joint 52nd on two-over.

The Offaly man made four birdies but also three bogeys and a double bogey, leaving him 51st for strokes gained tee to green

2020 THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK

(6th of 50 events in the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season)

Las Vegas, Nevada October 15-18, 2020 FedExCup Points: 500 (winner) Shadow Creek Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,527 Purse: $9,750,000/$1,755,000

Second-Round Notes – Friday, October 16, 2020

Weather: Mostly sunny. High of 90. Wind NNE 10-20 mph.

Second-Round Leaderboard

Xander Schauffele 66-64–130 (-14)

Tyrrell Hatton 65-68–133 (-11)

Russell Henley 66-68–134 (-10)

Talor Gooch 70-65–135 (-9)

Things to Know

• Xander Schauffele holds the 36-hole lead/co-lead for the third time on the PGA TOUR (0-for-2 to date)

• Schauffele’s back-nine 29 marks his career-low nine-hole score on TOUR

• Russell Henley (3rd) seeks first TOUR victory since 2017 Houston Open

• Defending champion and two-time CJ CUP winner Justin Thomas sits at T8 after 6-under 66

• Among the 11 South Koreans in the field, Hanbyeol Kim and Si Woo Kim hold best standing at T33

Second-Round Lead Notes

• 1  36-hole leader/co-leader to win THE CJ CUP (Justin Thomas/2019)

• 2  36-hole leaders/co-leaders to win on TOUR in 2020-21
  (most recent: Martin Laird/Shriners Hospitals for Children Open)

Xander Schauffele (1st/-14)

Category Entering the week

Age 26 (10/25/1993)

FedExCup 33

OWGR 8

Starts at THE CJ CUP 2

Wins at THE CJ CUP 0

Top-10s at THE CJ CUP 0

Career PGA TOUR starts 97

Career PGA TOUR wins 4

Career PGA TOUR top-10s 25

PGA TOUR starts in 2020-21 1

PGA TOUR wins in 2020-21 0

PGA TOUR top-10s in 2020-21 1

• Made six consecutive birdies (Nos. 13-18); two longest birdie streaks of his TOUR career have come at THE CJ CUP (7/R4/2018, 6/R2/2020)

• Back-nine 29 marks his career-low nine-hole score on the PGA TOUR; previous: 30 (front/R2/2016 Mayakoba Golf Classic, back/R4/2017 BMW Championship)

• Holds 36-hole lead/co-lead for the third time in his TOUR career (2018 BMW Championship/T3, 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions/T2)

• Three-stroke lead matches the largest 36-hole lead on TOUR since the start of the 2019-20 season (Collin Morikawa/2020 Workday Charity Open)

• Carded 15 birdies through two rounds, tying career-most after 36 holes (2018 BMW Championship)

• 130 marks second-lowest 36-hole score (lowest: 127/2018 BMW Championship)

• Leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (8.954)

• Third start in THE CJ CUP (T72/2017, T48/2018)

• Second start of the 2020-21 season (first: 5th/U.S. Open)

Tyrrell Hatton (2nd/-11)

• Leads the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (4.087) and Proximity (23’ 10”)

• Second start of the 2020-21 season (first: MC/U.S. Open)

• Earned first PGA TOUR victory at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard

• Third start in THE CJ CUP, with top-15s in each of the last two years (T14/2018, T6/2019)

Winner of last week’s BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour

Additional Player Notes

• Russell Henley (3rd/-10) seeks fourth career TOUR victory and first since the 2017 Houston Open

• In his tournament debut, Talor Gooch (4th/-9) collected five birdies and one eagle on his way to 7-under 65 and is in search of his first career PGA TOUR win

• In his third start of the 2020-21 season, Jason Kokrak (T5/-8) carded eight birdies (career-best: 9/R4/2018 RBC

  Canadian Open) as he seeks his first career PGA TOUR victory

• Defending champion and two-time winner of the event Justin Thomas stands at T8 after a 6-under 66; In the second round, led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (4.625) and SG: Approach the Green (2.838)

• Among the 11 South Korean players in the field, Hanbyeol Kim and Si Woo Kim hold the best position at T33

Course Statistics Toughest Hole

1. R1:  Par-4 15th (4.500)

2. R2:  Par-4 6th (4.269)

Scoring Averages

Front 9

1. R1:  36.231

2. R2:  35.538

Back 9

1. 36.500

2. 35.218

Easiest Hole

Par-5 18th (4.538) Par-5 4th (4.410)

Total

72.731 70.756

Cumulative

71.744

Bogey-free rounds
R1 (0): NoneR2 (5): Xander Schauffele (64), Talor Gooch (65), Collin Morikawa (65), Justin Thomas (66), Harry Higgs (67)