Rory McIlroy insisted he was still “right in it” after he birdied two of his last four holes in a “rollercoaster” 73 to trail clubhouse leader Richard Bland by six shots in the US Open at Torrey Pines.

The Holywood star made seven bogeys and three birdies in his first 14 holes to teeter on the cut line on three-over before knocking in a 20 footer at the sixth and then getting up and down from a bunker for a birdie four at the ninth to get in for the weekend on one-over par.

“So a bit of a roller coaster, got off to a good start,” McIlroy said. “Made a couple of birdies early on and was under par for the round.

“There’s a few holes around the turn where I made a couple of mental errors and missed it in the wrong spots, and when you do that around this golf course, it’s just really hard to see a par.

“I made a few bogeys, but birdieing two of the last four holes definitely makes me feel better about the round and gives me a nice bit of momentum going into tomorrow.

“Even though Richard Bland’s up there at 5-under, one-over is right in it. So, yeah, in for the weekend and still feel like I’ve got a really good chance.”

Asked what he needed to improve, McIlroy said: “I think my alignment was getting a little off. So I’ll go work on that on the range this afternoon.

“I felt like I drove the ball pretty well. I think I drove the ball better today than I did yesterday.

“Just need to straighten out the irons a little bit. If I can do that, as I said, I should have a good chance.”