Former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy moved into contention at the Kolon Korea Open golf tournament here on Friday, despite committing five bogeys in an up-and-down round.
McIlroy fired a 2-under 69 at the par-71 Woo Jeong Hills Country Club in Cheonan, south of Seoul, to reach 3-under for the tournament, good for a tie for fifth. He is sitting two shots behind the leader, Hong Soon-sang of South Korea, who shot a bogey-free round of 68.
McIlroy, currently ranked sixth, is seeking his first win of 2013, as he began his fall Asian swing at the South Korean national championship. In his two previous appearances at the Korea Open, he tied for third in 2009 and finished the runner-up in 2011.
McIlroy began his day on the back nine and opened with a birdie. Things turned sour quickly, however, as he made three straight bogeys starting on the par-4 14th.
The Northern Irish star managed to salvage his day with four birdies against one bogey over his last nine.
He said despite some "sloppy shots" he was still happy with his round.
"I'm driving the ball very well and for the most part my iron play is pretty good," he said. "I definitely could have been a few shots better, but I'm in a good position going into the weekend, and that's all you can ask for."
He said he was disappointed to have closed his day with a bogey, but he is looking forward to the weekend play.
"I don't need to go out there and be overly aggressive," he said. "But I just want to get myself into a good position for Sunday if possible."
Hong shot a 69 on Thursday and followed that up with a 68 for the only bogey-free round in the field on Friday.
"I was very pleased to go around without a bogey but I think I had a bit of luck," he said. "Some of the pins were really hard, but I managed to get it close or make up-and-down."
Defending champion Kim Dae-Sub shot a 73 to fall into a six-way tie for 13th. On a leaderboard dominated by South Koreans, McIlroy was the top foreign player.
The cut came at 6-over 148. (Yonhap News)
