Rory McIlroy played far from his best in the first two rounds at the Masters, but he feels he has every chance to climb up the leaderboard.
The 29-year-old made the cut by three shots and sits at even par through two rounds, seven shots back of Brooks Koepka, Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Scott and Jason Day who are tied for the lead at 7 under.
"I think it's just so bunched," McIlroy said. "There's so many guys with a chance coming into the last two days. So if I can get off to a decent start tomorrow, shoot 33 or 32 on the front nine, I'm right back in it."
McIlroy never quite found his footing in Round 2 tallying two birdies and three bogeys and an eagle, but he hit some good shots and was in good position on other holes, he just wasn't quite able to capitalize and turn in a good round.
He knows he didn't play his best, but he's not down on himself.
"I'm happy to be where I'm at, especially having to get it up and down from 180 yards on the 15th to make par," he said. "So I played the last four in 1 under to sort of be safe for the weekend, I guess. I was thinking, you know, staring bogey in the face at 15 and thinking I have to play the last three at even par just to make the cut. To be here on the weekend and only be seven back, I'm actually pretty pleased."
The four-time major winner hit a 50-foot putt on the 16th hole to get back to even par on the back nine and currently sits tied with Cameron Smith for 36th in the tournament.
"Yeah, just give me putts on 16 and I'll take those," he joked after his round.
Boom.@McIlroyRory from 50 feet. pic.twitter.com/0BTR3pgt2N
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 12, 2019
The main takeaway for McIlroy though is he's not out of it just yet while he easily could have been after shooting 73 in Round 1.
"I mean standing here I'm much happier tonight than I was last night coming off the course," he said. "I just bogeyed the last two holes, in comparison 1 under for the last four to get myself in for the weekend, thinking on the middle of the 15th fairway I have a realistic chance at not being here. So to get in and be seven back, I'm pretty happy.