Rory McIlroy might be reading the philosophical musings of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, but the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde looked a better fit as produced another erratic Major championship performance in the second round of the US Open at Torrey Pines.

After carding a one-under 70 in the opening round to start the day just three strokes behind Russell Henley and Louis Oosthuizen, he mixed the brilliant with the frustrating on the front nine, turning in one-over par before making three bogeys in his first five holes on the way home.

Having found himself inside the top five, he slipped briefly outside the cut line on three-over, four-over for the day through 14 holes, before he rolled in a 20-footer at the sixth, then stiffed a bunker shot at the par-five ninth to close with a birdie and sign for a two-over 73 that left him six shots behind surprise clubhouse leader Richard Bland of England on one-over.

There were signs of frustration from the Co Down man as he slammed his three-wood in the turf at the second (his 11th) and three-putted from 50 feet, drove into sand at the fourth and couldn’t make the green, then followed a perfect drive at the fifth with a tugged wedge into a bunker that led to his seventh bogey of the day.

It was all such a contrast to the controlled play of 48-year-old Bland, the fairytale winner of his first title in his 478th start at the British Masters earlier this month, as he plotted his way around the South Course like a chess grandmaster, carding a four-under 67 to lead in the clubhouse on five-under par.

“When I saw the course Monday, yeah, you know what, I thought, I can play around here,” said Bland, who had just 26 putts as he made seven birdies and three bogeys to lead by a shot from Oosthuizen with another veteran in 42-year-old Bubba Watson (67) and title favourite Jon Rahm, who shot 70, both a shot further back on three-under. 

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau looked in trouble when he bogeyed two of his first three holes to slip to four-over.

But the Mad Scientist made two birdies and an eagle at the 18th to turn in 34, then played the front nine in level for a 69 that put him right back in the tournament on level-par.

When he was on, McIlroy was hugely impressive, but he cannot afford to continue making unforced errors with short irons from the fairway — he was 53rd for strokes gained approach when he finished — if he’s to be a factor this weekend.

With the course playing more difficult than it did on Thursday, he began his day by playing the 10th in textbook fashion but then dropped a shot at the 228-yard 11th where he was in rough above the left-hand greenside bunker, and his pitch failed to crest a tier and dribbled 40 feet away.

His reply was a thing of beauty, a 167-yard approach that found a backstop behind the pin and spun back past the edge of the cup, finishing stone dead.

At the par-five 13th, he had 293 yards to the pin for his second but carved it into the right rough from where he pitched through the green to the light rough just off the back.

Choosing the putter, he bounced his putt through the rough, and the fringe found the left side of the cup to notch an unlikely birdie and his third hole-out from off the green in the space of 16 holes.

It was a birdie that moved him up to tied sixth on two-under, just two strokes behind Bland, the overnight leaders Louis Oosthuizen and Russell Henley.

No sooner had he the bit between his teeth, he handed that stroke back at the 14th, tossing his wedge high in the air like a majorette spinning a baton as it came up short in sand.

He’d miss the 10-footer to fall back to one-under and then drop another shot at the 15th, lipping out from eight feet after a pulled drive forced him to lay up 20 yards from the green.

He looked set for more frustration at the 18th when he drove into the rough, but he hit a 90-yard third to four feet and made the putt to turn in level-par for the championship.

“I think that last shot might propel him,” his putting coach Brad Faxon said of the birdie at the 18th, recalling how a similar birdie in fading light on Thursday night had given him that opening 70.

“It meant a lot to him to get finished yesterday,” Faxon said. “He said it would have been a crime not to shoot under par as well as he struck the ball.”

Faxon helps McIlroy putt with freedom, but the Ulsterman does his own thing on the mental game, despite his recent chats with Dr Bob Rotella.

“He’s a deep thinker and a big reader,” Faxon revealed on Sky Sports. “He sent me a quote earlier this week about the word indifference; indifference being a strength. It was a quote that he got from Marcus Aurelius, who was a Roman emperor. There are not many players reading Marcus Aurelius.”

One doubts McIlroy mentioned the stoic emperor to playing partners Dustin Johnson or Justin Rose.

World No 1 Johnson had to birdie two of his last three holes for a 73 to finish on two-over as Rose struggled to hit fairways and greens and shot 77 to bow out on 13-over.

US Open,
Live, Sky Sports, 4.0pm