Rory McIlroy at Northern Trust Open 2016: Friday Score and Reaction

Rory McIlroy built on his strong start at the 2016 Northern Trust Open, finishing Friday's second round with a two-under 69 to move within four shots of the lead.

The Northern Irish superstar continued his good play, which began four weeks ago at Abu Dhabi, playing nine of his last 10 tournament rounds under par. He still has work to do, because Jason Kokrak was terrific, shooting a 64 on Friday to take the lead after 36 holes, but there is time for the tide to change.

Here's the leaderboard as well as McIlroy's scorecard following the second round at the Riviera Country Club:

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Hole	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In
Par	5	4	4	3	4	3	4	4	4	35
Score	4	4	3	3	4	3	4	4	3	32
Total	-5	-5	-6	-6	-6	-6	-6	-6	-7	-
Par	4	5	4	4	3	4	3	5	4	36
Score	5	4	4	5	3	5	3	4	4	37
Total	-6	-7	-7	-6	-6	-5	-5	-6	-6

Not much went wrong for McIlroy early, save for a tee shot that hit a fan, and he appears to be locked in during his first PGA Tour event since November. He did have some hiccups on the back nine with three bogeys, including two during a three-hole stretch from Nos. 13 through 15, which put a damper on what looked like it would be a great day.

McIlroy wants fans to regard him as the best player in the world again, offering this comment to ESPN.com's Jason Sobel before the tournament started:

"

Sometimes I still get those feelings of -- I don't want to say I have guilt, but sometimes I feel like I haven't had to work as hard to get to where I am as some other people. I don't know if that's guilt or if that's questioning, 'Why is that me? Why am I the one that feels this way?' But I feel now that I definitely have got a ruthlessness on the course that I maybe didn't have a few years ago.

"

The most dangerous athlete is one who is motivated to prove something to himself and everyone else. McIlroy was already one of the best players in the sport, but this approach shot on the 11th hole indicated he's operating at a different level now, per the PGA Tour:

When you pair approach shots like that with birdie putts like this on No. 9, McIlroy is a snake waiting for his opportunity to strike anything that gets in his way, per the PGA Tour:

McIlroy still has some kinks to work out this season, as the final nine holes made apparent, though he's off to an excellent start, considering this is the first time he has played this course. 

Yet even with McIlroy's issues down the stretch, which he was able to slightly offset with a birdie on No. 17, his win probability remains higher than Kokrak's, per KenPom Golf:

This era of golf features more parity, with young stars such as Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler all looking to make their marks as the best in the world. McIlroy is hardly an old man—he's younger than Day and Fowler—but he reached the top at such a young age that it's easy to take him for granted. 

Yet McIlroy is also reaching an age at which his physical and mental maturity will start to work in unison. He's going to be 27 in May. Tiger Woods' peak years, one could argue, came between 2000 and 2003, when he won six majors between the ages of 23 and 27.

While it would be foolish to expect McIlroy to reach that level of dominance, because Woods' peak was so great and the field today is better than it was 15 years ago, he's still growing as a golfer and person. 

On Friday, McIlroy showed off his best attributes as well as some of the wrinkles he needs to iron out. Yet he's still in position to make a move Saturday with an unproven player atop the leaderboard who is trying to make a name for himself.