Dec 5 (Reuters) – Rory McIlroy grabbed three birdies in his last four holes to make the cut at the Australian Open on Friday, while Portugal’s Daniel Rodrigues and Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen set the pace at Royal Melbourne on nine-under par.

A trio of home golfers are in hot pursuit of the joint leaders with Min Woo Lee shooting a six-under 65 to sit one shot back while major winners Cam Smith (65) and Adam Scott (66) were a stroke further back.

Smith, the 2022 British Open champion, posted six birdies without a blemish on his second-round card.

Portugal’s Rodrigues shot a seven-under 64, soaring up the leaderboard with a bogey and eight birdies on his card, while an eagle at the 14th helped Dane Neergaard-Petersen to a 66.

“Certainly I feel like I’ve proved over the last year

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