Scottie Scheffler rights the ship while Rory McIlroy survives roller-coaster round on Day 2 of Olympic golf

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – Scottie Scheffler said he “righted the ship” on Friday at Le Golf National after carding a 2-under 69 that moved him into a tie for 10th following the second round of the Olympic men’s golf competition.

“I would like to be leading,” said the world No. 1, who took a double bogey 7 at the par-5 seventh hole and turned in 38 before rebounding with a 4-under 31 on the back. “I'm proud of the back nine. Got myself back into it. Like I said, I was pretty far back, so it was nice to string some good holes together and hole some putts. Definitely ride that momentum the next couple days.”

The 28-year-old Scheffler admitted that his attitude the last couple days was “not my best,” and said he found himself particularly distracted at the seventh hole where his 268-yard drive found the deep rough on the right. He attempted to hit a sand wedge out to safety and was surprised when it went a mere 14 feet. His next two shots advanced 84 yards and 99 yards, respectively, and he two-putted from 22 feet to stop the bleeding.

“I practiced in (the rough) and knew where I hit it was a pretty bad spot with how low it was, and that's where the water collects,” he said of the flubbed sand wedge. “So you know it's going to be thick down there. I knew not to hit it there, and I did anyways. …

“I think that's the internal battle you have of staying patient. I know if I stay patient around this golf course and play well, I can shoot a low score. It's just a matter of if I start freaking out and start forcing things, you're going to get in trouble really fast.”

Scheffler looked no further than caddie Ted Scott to help on the patience front, and asked Scott for an assist.

“I looked at Teddy and was like, ‘I cannot read these greens right now, I don't know what it is,” said Scheffler, who stands T10 at 6 under, five strokes back of leaders Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood. “He started reading putts with me on the back nine, and I rolled a nice one in there on 10. … The way I was feeling, I wasn't really going to disagree with what he was saying. It's like, ‘Yeah, man, you just tell me what to do here and I'll oblige.’”

World No. 3 Rory McIlroy, who sits tied for 13th at 5 under, suffered a double bogey of his own on the par-4 seventh en route to his 69 on Friday. He described his roller-coaster round – which included an eagle, four birdies, two bogeys and a double – as simply having “too many mistakes.”

“Sort of similar story to yesterday,” said McIlroy, who opened with a 68. “You know, making the good swings and making enough birdies and another eagle today. But yeah, just offset by a few too many mistakes over the first couple days.”

McIlroy, who is representing Team Ireland alongside Shane Lowry, added that he was surprised by the softer conditions this time at Le Golf National after the hard-as-rock conditions teams were met with during the 2018 Ryder Cup. And perhaps surprisingly, it wasn’t a pleasant surprise.

“If you would have asked me five or six years ago, I'd have said yes,” he said regarding the softer conditions this week. “But I've really started to enjoy those firmer, drier conditions. With a bit of drier weather over the next couple days, Sunday might have a little bit of bite to it.”