Rory McIlroy one shot behind the Irish Open leader heading into the weekend

McIlroy goes into the weekend's play in a strong position.

McIlroy, who started on the 10th hole at 08:00 AM alongside Tom McKibbin and Vincent Norman, encountered calm conditions but missed several opportunities early on, including a disappointing tee shot on the par-five 12th hole, leaving him at -3.

Royal County Down Golf Club’s par-71 course, designed by links manager Eamonn Crawford, provided a challenging test.

McIlroy bogeyed the 204-yard 14th hole after missing the green but responded with a birdie on the 468-yard 15th hole, returning to -3. He made par on the reachable par-five 18th, ending his first nine holes at -3.

McIlroy began his back nine strongly, eagling the first hole with a 348-yard drive and a superb second shot from 202 yards to move to -5.

"I've been working a little bit on my swing these last couple of weeks. Yeah, it felt a little better," said McIlroy.

However, he bogeyed the fifth hole after a wayward tee shot forced him to play out sideways, bringing him back to -4.

A two-putt on his final hole secured a -1 round of 70, keeping him firmly in contention to end the eight-year drought of an Irish winner at the tournament.

McIlroy is the last Irish player to win the tournament back in 2016.

Alejandro Del Rey also impressed, starting his second round with an eagle at the first and reaching -8 after 12 holes.

Despite playing holes 15 to 17 in +4, he managed to finish level par for the day thanks to a birdie on 18, tying with McIlroy at -4 and just one shot off the lead shared by Laurie Canter and Todd Clements.

Shane Lowry, starting on the 10th hole alongside Robert MacIntyre and Ryan Fox, had a mixed round.

After a bogey on the 16th where his eagle putt rolled off the green, he bounced back with a series of birdies to reach -2.

He finished with a solid round of 69. Meanwhile, Tom McKibbin, at +3, secured a Saturday tee time by closing his round with a birdie on the ninth hole to also shoot 69.