McIlroy kept in check by firm Bay Hill as Hovland hits the front

Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott in a file picture

RORY MCILROY faces a weekend duel with Viktor Hovland after he suffered a back-nine wobble and fell two behind the rising Norwegian star in the Arnold Palmer Invitational on rock hard greens at Bay Hill.

Hovland (24) can become the new world number two with victory tomorrow and after pipping McIlroy for January’s Dubai Desert Classic, he showed his intent by taking just 23 putts as he made seven birdies in a morning six-under 66 to set the pace on nine-under

McIlroy looked set to build on his first-round 65 when he followed an opening bogey with birdies at the fourth, seventh and eighth to join Hovland in the lead.

But as the course dried out, he couldn’t birdie either of the par-fives on the back nine and added two bogeys, three-putting the 15th before failing to get up and down from the collar of greenside rough at the 232-yard 17th.

Unable to hit the ball close as the course baked out for the afternoon starters, McIlroy found the slick greens hard to read and lost over two strokes to the field on the greens in a 30 putt round.

He had a 14 footer for birdie at the last to get into the final group with Hovland but missed and a 72 that left him tied for second with Tyrrell Hatton and Talor Gooch, who both shot 68, on seven-under.

Graeme McDowell was undone by a triple-bogey seven after a misjudged approach came up short in the water to the 11th and thrown by that error and the difficulty of the conditions, carded a 76 to fall back to tied 30th on level par.

Pádraig Harrington made the weekend on three-over after a 74 but Séamus Power missed his third cut in a row ahead of next week’s Players Championship though he did recover from his opening 80 with a 72.

The Sawgrass field features 48 of the top 50 in the world but Phil Mickelson did not enter..

The left-hander has not played since the PIF Saudi International a month ago, where he called out the PGA Tour’s “obnoxious greed”.

He subsequently created more controversy after comments on the Saudi-backed Super Golf League he made last November were made public by journalist and unofficial biographer, Alan Shipnuck.