Tiger roars, Rory shines
The Holywood youngster was disappointed to hit a one over par 73 in the first round in China but hit back shooting an impressive 68 to leave him on three under par.
He is well off the pace, with Tiger Woods on fire, but a good finish in the final two rounds from McIlroy will see him rise up the leaderboard.
McIlroy is certainly capable of it and should be expected to continue improving in this world class event.
Woods of course has been there, done that and was in splendid form today going round in five under par (67) for the second round in succession.
He is joint leader with Nick Watney on ten under and looking in determined mood to clinch victory.
Woods hit birdies on the last two holes as he mounted his charge.
Watney followed his outstanding opening-day 64 with a second round 70 to join Woods at 10 under for the tournament.
It was tough going for Watney on the front nine but he came good on the back nine making four birdies to keep him well in contention though keeping Woods at bay is going to be extremely tough.
Another man to watch will be Phil Mickelson who hit a brilliant 66. He is one behind the leaders.
McIlroy enjoyed the experience of playing alongside the left handed American.
The Ulsterman said: "Playing with Phil Mickelson and Yon-eun Yang is really good. Mickelson's won here before and he's number two in the world and Yang's the most recent Major winner so that was a very nice little draw for me."
Ryan Moore and Spain's Alvaro Quiros, like Mickelson, are on nine under.
Anthony Kim, Pat Perez and Brian Gay lie behind Mickelson and Moore near the top of what is a US-dominated leaderboard in China.
Irishman Shane Lowry was disappointed with his second round of 74 leaving him on four under while Padraig Harrington ended on one under after his first two rounds.
Meanwhile Ernie Els was celebrating after a hole in one at the sixth hole.
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