Rory McIlroy went out early Friday for his second round of the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. He began his morning tied with Patrick Cantlay atop the U.S. Open leaderboard, putting him in prime position to make a run at his elusive fifth major title.

Despite a more difficult second round, McIlroy will head into the weekend in great position. He carded a 2-over 72 Friday and is two shots off the lead as the second round continues.

But as he stated following his round, McIlroy has no intention of watching golf all day, and for good reason.

“I don't like seeing where other guys are hitting it. I particularly don't like when I can watch people hit putts on greens because then, whenever I have a similar putt on the golf course, I'm going off the memory of what I think I saw on TV instead of seeing it with my own eyes,” McIlroy said.

“I'd rather just not have that option at all.”

The four-time major champion has played very well through 36 holes. He picked up where he left off Thursday in terms of tee-to-green, gaining more than three strokes on the field Friday. For the tournament, he has picked up 4.63 shots on the field, tee-to-green. That ranks second behind only Ludvig Aberg.

To no one's surprise, McIlroy is also driving the ball exceptionally well. He leads the U.S. Open field in strokes gained off-the-tee at 2.21.

Thus far, the only part of his game that is lacking is his putting, having lost 2.46 strokes putting to the field Friday.

“I wish I had converted a couple more of the chances. Hit the ball pretty well. I think only missed one fairway. So I had plenty of opportunities. Yeah, wasn't quite as good with the putter today,” McIlroy said following his round.

U.S. Open – Pinehurst No. 2 Precision

Maybe the most difficult part of this track are the approach shots. The greens have so much undulation, if you are slightly off on yardages and miss by a few feet, you may very well be looking at a 40-yard chip.

“Even though I hit a great drive up the 8th hole, I had 151 adjusted to the hole. I'm trying to land it 146. I can't land it 144 because it's not going to get up there. I can't land it 148 because it's going to go over the back of the green. You just need to have a lot of precision,” said McIlroy.

Despite some early struggles, Rory McIlroy played much better on his back nine. He birdied the par-4 3rd (McIlroy started on the back nine) and just missed a couple chances at getting back to even for his round.

He then plunked his approach shot into the bunker on his final hole, prompting a bogey-five to card the 72.

Nevertheless, McIlroy finds himself with a great chance at snapping his 10-year major drought.