‘I’m right in the mix’ – Rory McIlroy lurking in solid defence of his Scottish Open crown

But considering his US Open heartbreak three weeks ago, the world No 2 declared himself happy with his lot after he added a four-under 66 to his opening 65 to go into the weekend just three shots behind Ryder Cup team-mate Ludvig Aberg on nine-under par.

“It’s another weekend where I’m right in the mix of a golf tournament, and that’s a nice position to be in after the last three weeks that I’ve had,” McIlroy said.

He made four birdies in his first ten holes to close the gap on the Swede, who shot a second successive 64 in benign conditions to set the pace on 12-under par

But he admitted he was not quite at his best and after dropping a shot at the 11th, where he had to take a penalty drop, he followed a birdie at the 13th with missed chances at the 16th and 17th to end the day tied for fifth with Alex Noren, Alejandro del Rey, Rasmus Hojgaard, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala.

“Similar to yesterday, I felt like I left a few out there,” McIlroy said. “Today, I wasn’t totally on with my swing, so I had to manage my misses a little bit. I thought it did a good job of hanging in there, even though I didn’t feel at my best, especially over those last few holes.”

Aberg leads by a shot from France’s Antoine Rozner and by two from Matteo Manassero and Sungjae Im on 12-under and McIlroy knows he will likely need to go low today to keep his title aspirations intact.

“I’ll have to get off to a good start tomorrow just like I got off to a good start today,” he said. “There’s a few opportunities in that first six holes. So I think that’s pretty important, and you know, from there, see where I am. If I can keep playing the way I’m playing and limit the mistakes, I definitely feel like there’s a lower one in me.

“I saw a 62 and 63 out there today. If we continue to get conditions like this, I think that’s what it’s going to take to be right up there around the lead going into Sunday.”

Rozner, Noren and Ugo Coussaud, who is tied for 11th on eight-under, are in position to win the three spots in The Open via the Qualifying Series with Séamus Power tied for 47th on four-under after he bogeyed two of his last three holes en route to a 67.

Royal Troon is now front and centre for Tom McKibbin and Pádraig Harrington after they missed the three-under-par cut. McKibbin shot 69 to miss out by a shot with Harrington three shots further back after a 71.

The cut also looked likely for Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow in the weather-delayed Amundi Evian Championship in France. Maguire struggled to find fairways and carded a second successive one-over 71 that left her two shots outside the projected cut mark on two-over when play was suspended for the day due to thunder and lightning.

Meadow was six-over for the day and nine-over for the championship with ten holes to complete today.

Korea’s Mi-Hyang Lee was the clubhouse leader on seven-under after a 66 with Japan’s Ayaka Furue 12-under with five holes to complete.

In amateur golf, Ireland will face England for the bronze medal in the European Ladies’ Amateur Team Championship after they lost 4.5-2.5 to Germany in the semi-finals in Madrid, where the Germans take on France for the title.

In the men’s event in Italy, Ireland beat Austria 4-1 but must now defeat Scotland to secure 13th place and avoid relegation to Division 2 next year.

LPGA Evian Championship, 9.0am Scottish Open, 3.0pm Isco Championship, 9.0pm (All live on Sky Sports)