Rory McIlroy was thrilled he found his control as he moved up the Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard with an improved second round, but Daniel Berger continued to set the tone.

Berger extended his lead to five shots at the halfway stage as he followed a stunning opening-round 63 with a four-under 68 on Friday.

He matched five birdies with a lone bogey to move to 13-under, moving further clear of his closest challenger, Akshay Bhatia.

But McIlroy has given himself a chance after going round in 68 to move to four under and take a share of ninth place.

The Northern Irishman birdied four of the first seven holes on the back nine, and he was pleased with how strongly he finished the round.

"Very pleased," McIlroy said. "Hit it in the water on the eighth, but made a good putt for bogey there.

"I really felt like that kept any momentum that I had for the round going. I played the last 10 holes really, really well.

"Overall, really, really pleased. A very controlled, patient round of golf, which you need to do around here – a good day's work."

Scenes from Round 2 of #APInv. pic.twitter.com/JKn6cee4vL

— apinv (@APinv) March 7, 2026

Ludvig Aberg recovered from a mid-round wobble to post a second-round 71, and he sits third alongside Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa on seven-under.

Rickie Fowler is one shot further back, while Xander Schauffele and Russell Henley share seventh place on five-under, one ahead of McIlroy, though they all have work to do to catch up to Berger.

"I actually feel like I played better [on Friday] – the course was a little tougher," Berger said.

"I'm looking forward to the next couple of days and seeing the challenge they bring."

World number one Scottie Scheffler, meanwhile, is on three-under at the halfway point after a bogey on the 18th saw him finish the day on 71.