MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Not before a bit of back-nine drama at Royal Melbourne, Rory McIlroy has made the weekend at the Australian Open after shooting a 3-under 68 on Friday to finish inside the 36-hole cut line.

McIlroy, who was 2-under on the tournament, was seven strokes behind leaders Daniel Rodriques (64) and Rasmus Neergaard-Peterson (66), who had 9-under totals of 133.

The leading pair were one shot clear of third-place Min Woo Lee, who shot 65 Friday. Adam Scott (66) was in a tie for fourth with Cameron Smith (65), who avoided adding to his tally of seven consecutive missed cuts .

McIlroy started the day at 1-over after a 72 on Thursday, tied for 57th and trailing the leaders by seven shots. At the time, that was just one shot inside the expected cut of 2-over.

He bird

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