Rory McIlroy stays in the hunt at Invitational

The Holywood golfer hit a 67 on Friday to follow up the 65 he hit on Thursday - but he will not be totally happy with his round yesterday.

McIlroy trails early leaders Ian Poulter, Toomy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas by three shots as they are all on 11 under par.

Fleetwood and Poulter share the lead with Thomas as low scoring continued to be the order of the day.

Overnight leader Poulter added a second round of 67 to his opening 62 at Firestone Country Club for a halfway total of 11 under par.

Fleetwood, who birdied his final two holes on Thursday, fired seven more in a flawless 63 while Thomas, who will defend his US PGA Championship title at Bellerive Country Club next week, birdied five of his last eight holes in a 64.

“I was just signing my card there and realised I hadn’t had a five and you always remember those rounds,” Fleetwood, who also shot 63 in the final round of the US Open earlier this season to finish just a shot behind champion Brooks Koepka, told Sky Sports.

“I never hit it out of position and think I got away with one bad tee shot

where it bounced out of the trees but apart from that played lovely, putted

really nice and just picked them off.

“It’s a driver’s golf course so you have to drive it well. I came off yesterday and I couldn’t believe how good the scoring was. It just shows how high the standard of golf is at the moment.

“You’re always one bad tee shot away from making a bogey but the course has played really soft so the further up [the fairway] you can get it to be able to control it and take spin off makes a big difference.

“If you hit it long and straight it’s never going to do you any harm, especially around here. I was happy with my round.”