Rory McIlroy at Players Championship 2013: Day 2 Analysis, Highlights and More

Rory McIlroy had an up and down second round at The Players Championship on Friday, but was able to salvage a score of even-par 72 to post six under through the first 36 holes. The second-ranked player in the world trails Sergio Garcia by five strokes entering the weekend.

Considering he had never broken par in missing three previous cuts at TPC Sawgrass, it has been a respectable showing thus far for the 24-year-old Northern Irishman.

As the always candid McIlroy revealed earlier in the week, though, at least two of those previous efforts may have been tainted by off-course distractions. Jason Sobel of Golf Channel poked fun at that yesterday after McIlroy opened with a 66:

No excuses are abound for McIlroy in 2013, either, but this time his strong play has continued. Here is a look at where he stands against the rest of the field entering the weekend.

Position	Player	Scores	Total
1	Sergio Garcia	68-65	-11
2	Tiger Woods	67-67	-10
T3	Lee Westwood	69-66	-9
T3	Kevin Chappell	69-66	-9
T3	Henrik Stenson	68-67	-9
T6	Ryan Palmer	67-69	-8
T6	Casey Wittenberg	67-69	-8
T6	David Lingmerth	68-68	-8
T9	Adam Scott	69-68	-7
T9	Matt Kuchar	71-66	-7
T9	Zach Johnson	66-71	-7
T9	Hunter Mahan	67-70	-7
T13	Rory McIlroy	66-72	-6

Note: For complete scores, visit PGA.com. All statistics, information and video are courtesy of PGATour.com.

The round began relatively well for McIlroy. After a par at the opening hole, he left himself a little bit more work than he wanted to on the par-five second hole, but McIlroy nevertheless capitalized with this tricky 13-footer for birdie:

As has been the case with much of his 2013 season, though, inconsistency in his swing began to surface. McIlroy pulled his tee shot into the water at No. 7, starting a run of three consecutive bogeys to close out the front nine in two-over 38.

However, as he has frequently in his brief, bright career, the wunderkind managed to bounce back in a big way, nearly making eagle with this laser-precise approach to the par-four 10th:

Another birdie followed at No. 12 after a fine approach to the short par four, allowing McIlroy to return to level par for the afternoon.

Here is a breakdown of McIlroy's scorecard:

Front Nine

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	OUT
Par	4	5	3	4	4	4	4	3	5	36
Score	4	4	3	4	4	4	5	4	6	38

Back Nine

Hole	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	IN	TOTAL
Par	4	5	4	3	4	4	5	3	4	36	72
Score	3	5	3	3	4	4	5	3	4	34	72

So again, it's not an insurmountable deficit, and this has been a far cry from where McIlroy was at any time in his past three Players Championships.

When McIlroy struggled in the middle of the round, he was releasing the club too quickly at impact, which caused his pull on the seventh. He over-compensated on the par-three eighth, coming up well short of the green and taking two chips.

Another tugged shot came when he took a lash at the par-five No. 9 green, and after hitting to consecutive bunkers, he couldn't save par.

From there, McIlroy began to find his groove once again, though he will be disappointed to play the par fives in even par, especially with his short miss for birdie at No. 16.

As long as he can maintain his tempo and stay connected through impact without lazily slipping too far to the inside, McIlroy should be right in the thick of things if he can hole a few putts.