Rory McIlroy, DP World Tour Championship 2024 (Image via Getty)

Rory McIlroy is in a share of second place after the first 36 holes of the 2024 DP World Tour Championship. The Northern Irishman is 8-under and shares the position on the leaderboard with Tyrrell Hatton.

Despite being just one shot behind leader Antoine Rozner, McIlroy is not entirely happy with his work. He didn’t hit as many fairways as he would have liked on Friday, and he criticized himself when he spoke to the press after his round.

This was part of what Rory McIlroy had to say (via ASAP Sports):

“The course is set up different. I need to do a better job of hitting the fairways. I did, for the first few holes, and then I let it slip a bit. I started to miss the driver a bit left in the middle of the round.”

He added:

“So tried to sort of straighten that out, and again, if I can hit fairways out here, then the greens are very receptive and you give yourself plenty of chances. But yeah, look, I’m so comfortable around this place and I’ve had success before. So I’m liking my chances going into the weekend.”

The second round of the 2024 DP World Tour Championship was Rory McIlroy’s 16th consecutive sub-70 on the European Tour. The streak began in the third round of the Irish Open last September.

A look at Rory McIlroy’s second-round performance at the DP World Tour Championship

Rory McIlroy started the second round of the DP World Tour Championship with four birdies and no bogeys in the first seven holes. It was on the 8th hole that he began to struggle with control of his drives, causing him to miss several fairways.

On the 8th hole, McIlroy sent his tee shot into a bunker to the right of the fairway. His second shot reached the green, but he 3-putted for bogey.

On the 9th, he also missed the fairway and his second shot went into a greenside bunker. However, his approach left the ball just 8 feet from the hole and he was able to save par.

On the 10th, McIlroy again missed the fairway and his ball landed in the left rough. His second shot went just 47 yards and he could only reach the green with his third shot. He ended up bogeying the hole.

From the 11th, McIlroy regained control of his drives and made seven consecutive pars. However, on the 14th, he lost the fairway again, which reduced his chances of making birdie on the hole.

He did the same on the 15th, where his tee shot went into the native area left of the bunker. McIlroy saved par with a second shot of exceptional quality that left the ball just 13 feet from the hole. He finished with a birdie on the 18th.

Overall, McIlroy hit 9 of the 14 fairways he faced in the second round of the DP World Tour Championship (64.28%).