Rory McIlroy 3rd on 2018 Masters Leaderboard After Impressive Friday

Rory McIlroy remains in the hunt for his first green jacket through two rounds of the 2018 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. 

McIlroy shot a one-under 71 in the second round Friday, which brought him to four under for the tournament. When he headed into the clubhouse, he had a share of third place and sat one shot off Marc Leishman and Patrick Reed in first place.

McIlroy didn't get his round off to a great start, as he bogeyed the opening hole. He responded with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 2 and 3. The Masters shared a replay of his approach on the second hole and impressive birdie putt:

McIlroy fell back to one over on the day with bogeys on the fourth and sixth holes and did well to avoid another bogey on No. 7.

He hooked his drive to the left, and his second shot landed in the gallery past the green. He still chipped to within seven feet of the cup on his third shot and salvaged a par with his subsequent putt:

McIlroy settled down after his up and down front nine. He went bogey-free over the back nine and earned birdies on Nos. 13 and 14. With a number of marquee stars struggling Friday, simply avoiding any big mistakes was all McIlroy needed to do.

The Advocate's Scott Rabalais thought he positioned himself well to let the rest of the field fall into place:

McIlroy's approach play was the biggest reason he finished the second round under par. According to the Masters' official site, he only hit seven of the 14 fairways—down from 12 on Thursday—yet reached 12 greens in regulation. Hitting that poorly off the tee could be a problem over the rest of the tournament.

Starting strong generally hasn't been McIlroy's issue at Augusta; maintaining his strong play through the weekend has been another matter.

There was the final round 80 he carded in 2011 after leading by four shots through 36 holes. In 2012 and 2013, he shot 77 and 79, respectively in the third round to take himself out of contention. Were it not for the 77 he shot in the third round, he may have finished on top in 2016 as well.

Although McIlroy is a four-time major champion and one of the best golfers in the world, plenty of fans will be waiting to see if another Masters collapse is in store for the 28-year-old.