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Rory McIlroy shot a 67 in the second round of The Open at Royal Birkdale to make the cut and keep his hopes of a second Claret Jug alive

Rory McIlroy remains confident he can secure a second Open Championship title at Royal Birkdale after salvaging his tournament with a second-round 67 on Friday.

The Masters champion faced an uphill battle following an opening round of two over par, but bounced back impressively to reach one under and secure his weekend participation.

He recorded four birdies and created additional chances through excellent driving, though he was unable to convert all the opportunities presented to him.

The world number two commented: "I think if I can get off to a decent start tomorrow, be four or five under for the tournament, I'll be right in it.

"It depends on the conditions and the way the wind direction is but I think I've driven the ball so well the last two days.

"I think any time I can get a driver in my hand, I'm going to try to. I just feel like with how I'm feeling with the driver, I think it's a big advantage."

McIlroy acknowledged ongoing challenges with the greens, stating: "I'll continue to do that but I'm still trying to figure out these greens a little bit. I've struggled the last couple of days.

"It was a little better today but I still didn't feel 100 per cent comfortable."

The Northern Irishman expressed disappointment at not capitalising fully on favourable scoring conditions, saying: "I felt like I had momentum coming off the end of the front nine with the two birdies on eight and nine but I stalled a little bit on the back.

"The main objective was to be here for the weekend, which I am, but I felt like I left a couple out there. Then you look at the board and you see a couple of 62s and you feel like you could have done a bit better."

A standout moment in McIlroy's round occurred at the 414-yard par-four ninth hole, where he managed to drive onto the green for the second consecutive day.

Reflecting on the shot, he explained: "The practice rounds I played were in a completely different wind direction and I didn't even think about it.

"Then when I got on the tee yesterday and saw the wind, it was like, as long as I just strike it well, that should be fine."

He continued: "Then today I got there again and, honestly, my game plan was to hit it to the top of the hill and hit a wedge on and go from there, but sometimes opportunities present themselves and you have to take them."

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