Rory McIlroy is near the top of the PLAYERS Championship, but he had to earn his 5-under 67 the hard way as his struggles off the tee continue.

Rory McIlroy shrugged off a disappointing finish to his second round of the Players Championship and insisted he would relish the forecast tough weekend conditions at Sawgrass. Mcllroy bogeyed two of his last four holes to add a 68 to his opening 67 and lie two shots behind clubhouse leaders Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia,

Rory McIlroy continues to sit on the front page of the leaderboard, but TPC Sawgrass still finds ways to put its claws into him at The PLAYERS Championship.

Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia share the lead on 11 under and JJ Spaun sits third; Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa both tied-fourth; Justin Thomas equals TPC Sawgrass course record with stunning 62; w

Few have the experience of playing the Stadium Course as McIlroy and certainly not three of the players directly ahead of him on the leaderboard.

McIlroy shared the lead at various points at TPC Sawgrass but will instead head into the weekend just the pace

Rory McIlroy took matters into his own hands at The Players Championship earlier this week after being heckled by a fan.

Trailing by seven strokes heading into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, McIlroy regretted a club switch and sent for his older set.