Rory McIlroy believes he is in a "great position" to attack the weekend at the Scottish Open after finishing the second round in a share of the lead at The Renaissance Club. 

McIlroy heads into the third round of the competition tied on nine under with Jordan Smith and Tom Kim, though world number one Scottie Scheffler surprisingly missed the cut. 

After 78 events over four years, Scheffler shot a two-over 72 and failed to make the weekend of a PGA Tour event for the first time since the 2022 FedEx St Jude Championship. 

McIlroy, meanwhile, almost chipped in for an eagle at the first, settling for a birdie, before picking up three further shots to reach the turn in 31.

He almost holed his approach to the 13th but then made his only significant mistake of his round as he missed the resulting par putt.

The 2023 Scottish Open winner quickly made amends as he almost eagled the 14th and was left with a birdie that put him back into that three-way tie for first.

"I thought I played well again," McIlroy said. "The wind definitely got up for us in the afternoon wave, and we got off to a really nice start.

"Then, by the turn, the wind had got to its strongest, and it felt like it was hard to get the ball close to the pins. We were all making a lot of pars out there.

"It would have been nice to be a couple better, but it's obviously another solid day, and I'm in a great position going into the weekend."

How it stands at the halfway stage #GenesisScottishOpen #RolexSeries #FedExCup pic.twitter.com/agDfvFgN2o

— Genesis Scottish Open (@ScottishOpen) July 10, 2026

The 37-year-old now feels well positioned to go in search of a second Scottish Open title into the weekend, though he acknowledged he would be challenged at the top.

"A lot of great players around the lead," added McIlroy. 

"Bob [MacIntyre] rallied on that back nine to get himself into contention for the home contingent. It's going to be a great weekend and excited for the opportunity."

For Scheffler, his preparations for his title defence at The Open next weekend at Royal Birkdale were far from ideal. 

Having battled to a 68 on Thursday, Scheffler made a faltering start to his second round with two bogeys – on 11 and 12 – in his opening three holes.

Scheffler needed a birdie at the par-three ninth, his final hole, to make the weekend but failed to hole a chip from just off the green and missed a six-foot par putt.

The American was, however, bemused by his round, saying he did not feel like he played badly at all. 

"It felt like nothing was going right," Scheffler admitted. "I didn't really feel like I played that badly.

"This golf course can be just tough at times. There's some humps and mounds out there. I don't think I finished outside of the top 20 or something like that many times this year.

"So I'm definitely proud of the consistency and wish I had a couple of days over the weekend to make up some ground."

In a tightly-contested field, there are 12 players within two shots of the lead, and 37 within five.

Matt Fitzpatrick is one shot back on eight under after a round of 65 which included a run of five successive birdies on the back nine. 

Min Woo Lee is also on the same score, while home hopeful Bob MacIntyre, last year's champion Chris Gotterup and Frenchman Victor Perez are in the mix.