Rory McIlroy scraped into the weekend at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, where Jon Rahm and Danny Willett claimed a share of the lead through 36 holes.
McIlroy's first round had unravelled in spectacular fashion as he carded a four-over-par 76, leaving him with plenty of work to do when he headed back out onto the course on Friday.
The world number two needed to get back to one over to make the cut but saw his early progress, with two birdies in four holes, checked by a bogey at the fifth.
McIlroy was still two strokes shy of his target with five holes remaining but picked up shots at the par-three 14th and par-four 16th to get the job done.
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"I guess I played a bit better today - while still not quite feeling in sync with everything," McIlroy told Sky Sports. "I battled well, the conditions were a lot trickier out there today than they were yesterday [Thursday]. I definitely didn't think I was going to get into a position where I didn't need to birdie either of the [last two] holes coming in."
McIlroy will still require a remarkable turnaround to have any hope of challenging leaders Rahm and Willett over the next two days, though. Rahm had already been in contention with a 66 on Thursday but started poorly with bogeys at the first and second.
A fine recovery followed, with four birdies on the bounce, yet he was still two shots shy of Willett's clubhouse target of 11 under for the week until a superb eagle at the last. Willett might have been in an even stronger position, having been five under for the day through five and eight under through 12, signing for seven under as his form faltered on the way back.
He acknowledged: "I'm probably not back to my best, and I'm still working on the moves and there's still shots in there that I don't like."
Home hopeful Justin Rose is two shots back and is joined in a tie for third by Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Henrik Stenson, while Francesco Molinari and Patrick Reed are both in the top 20.
Matt Wallace had led overnight but collapsed completely with seven bogeys in a four-over round. Tommy Fleetwood, like McIlroy, came close to missing the cut, albeit in different fashion - carding a three-over 75 on a disappointing day.
- An fires another 66 to edge clear at Sanderson Farms Championship -
An Byeong-Hun carded another six-under 66 to open up a two-stroke lead as the second round of the Sanderson Farms Championship was suspended. The South Korean continued his fine start at the Country Club of Jackson on Friday, moving into 12 under after his second straight 66.
An started his round with four consecutive birdies before finding water to bogey the par-five fifth. The 28-year-old recovered with back-to-back birdies at eight and nine before picking up another shot at the 17th.
An holds a two-shot lead over J.T. Poston (70), George McNeill (67), Scottie Scheffler (66) and Tom Hoge (70). Hoge and Scheffler are coming off strong showings at the Greenbrier Classic, where they finished second and tied for seventh respectively.
Inclement weather led to a delay on the opening day and darkness meant 57 players were unable to finish their second rounds. Cameron Percy is the best-placed of those yet to get through 36 holes, sitting at nine under through 11 and in outright sixth.
Carlos Ortiz (71) and Harris English (71) are tied for seventh at eight under, alongside Seamus Power, who is through 11. Joaquin Niemann, the 20-year-old Chilean who won the Greenbrier Classic, is back at four under through 16 holes in his second round.
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