‘I feel I've been a little bit wasteful’ - McIlroy at Pebble Beach; Clarke’s broomstick

Rory McIlroy admits he must avoid being “wasteful” as he bids to close a six-shot gap on the leaders in his defence of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am.

The Masters champion made an eagle and two birdies to be four under through seven holes in his second round at Pebble Beach.

But he needed a birdie at the last to come home in one under after making two birdies and two bogeys in his first five holes on the back nine, and posted a five under 67 to move up to 17th on nine under.

Overnight leader Ryo Hisataune shot a 67 and Akshay Bhatia an eight-under 64, both at Spyglass Hill, to lead by a shot from Rickie Fowler and Sam Burns on 15-under.

But McIlroy believes he still has a chance to renew his title, providing he can make a fast start for the third day running and keep it going before th forecasted bad weather arrives on Sunday.

“I got off to fast starts both days and sort of stalled on the back nine,” McIlroy said. “I made a couple of bogeys on the way in on 10 and on 14, and I feel like I wasted a few shots out there, or at least, just wasn't efficient with my scoring. 

“I didn't capitalise on the good starts that I had the last couple of days. So it's hard, because every time you look at a leaderboard, the scoring is so low that you feel that if you’re not making a birdie every two or three holes, you're falling behind. 

“With the weather coming in on Sunday, tomorrow is going to be a really important day to get yourself in position.”

McIlroy shot a brilliant third-round 65 on moving day last year to join Shane Lowry in the final group before going on to win.

But the Offaly man needs fireworks to make the final group this week after he also failed to build on a fast start and carded a three under 69 at Spyglass Hill that left him seven shots off the lead in a tie for 22nd.

“Those leaders have the opportunity to get off to a fast start as well,” McIlroy said. “But I just think tomorrow is going to be a really important day, because Sunday looks like it could be pretty messy. 

“A lot of things can happen. So the closer you are to the lead going into Sunday, the better.

“Even if I am a few behind going into Sunday, everyone will feel like they have a chance with those conditions.”

Getting off to a fast start and avoiding the back-nine mistakes he made on the first two days will be key.

“I feel like I've been a little bit wasteful the last two days and maybe not capitalised on those great starts,” McIlroy said. 

“Hopefully, if I get off to a good start again tomorrow and if I pick up a few shots early, I'll be right in the mix”

World number one Scottie Scheffler lies nine shots off the pace after following an opening 72 with a 66 at Spyglass Hill and knows he needs an outstanding weekend to have a chance.

Meanwhile, Darren Clarke’s switch to a broomhandle putter looks to be paying off as he fired a seven under 65 to grab a share of the lead in the Chubb Classic in Florida.

The former Open champion made two eagles and five birdies at Tiburon to share a one-shot lead with Australian Michael Wright.

“I see how well Thomas (Bjorn) putts, Bernhard, Vijay, all the guys,” said Clarke, who has Bray’s Keith Nolan on his bag. 

“I got help from Thomas. He spent some time with me on the putting green in Hawai'i, showing me some of the technique and what you should be doing.

“I didn't move to the long putter because I had the yips or anything. I just moved because I thought it was a better roll on the golf ball.

“It's only one tournament and one round. It could go flying through the air at some stage, but at the moment it's behaving itself.

“But it's exciting to be able to stand there and hole a couple of putts because I haven't done that for a few years, so it's nice.”