Potgieter stays in the PGA Championship hunt as McIlroy fights back into contention

Masters champion McIlroy looked in danger of missing the cut after finishing his opening round with four bogeys in a 74, but responded impressively on Friday to move to one over par, five shots behind halfway leaders Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley.

"I think everyone's got to feel like they have got a chance," McIlroy said after his round. "At five back I do feel like I'm right in the tournament."

Potgieter, meanwhile, spent much of Friday's second round in the lead on five under before two closing bogeys saw him drop to three under and a second-round 70.

That was still good enough for tied-third one shot behind the leaders and leaves the 21-year-old right in the hunt heading into the weekend.

"Yeah, it was great," Potgieter said. "I think looking at those last two holes was kind of unfortunate, but yeah, I felt like I was in control most of the round and had some really nice par saves that kind of kept the momentum going. So I was quite happy with it."

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler posted a one-over 71 that left him two shots off the lead. Scheffler bogeyed three of his first four holes and struggled off the tee, missing his opening six fairways but recovered later on.

"This is the hardest set of pin locations that I've seen since I've been on tour," Scheffler said. "It's difficult to hole putts, especially when you have big slopes and wind."

Chris Gotterup produced the round of the day with a seven-under 65 to join a five-way tie for third place, one shot behind the leaders.

McNealy surged into the outright lead at one stage after holing out for eagle at the 16th and adding three birdies in five holes, but late bogeys saw him fall back into a share of the lead at four under alongside Smalley, who recovered from three consecutive bogeys to post a 69.

Among the other contenders, Jon Rahm sits three shots back, while Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka are alongside McIlroy on one over.

Spieth remains in pursuit of the PGA Championship title needed to complete the career Grand Slam.

There was disappointment for Bryson DeChambeau, who missed the cut for a second consecutive major despite ending his round with three straight birdies.

Other notable players to miss the weekend included Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Keegan Bradley.

READ MORE: Mandela boxing tournament part of WBC’s big plans for SA boxing