Rory McIlroy birdied four of his last nine holes, but still trails Daniel Berger by nine shots at the halfway mark of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The American stretched his overnight lead from three strokes to five as a second round 68 left him on 13-under-par at Bay Hill.
Compatriot Akshay Bhatia was five shots off the lead after a 66, while Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg was a shot further back alongside American duo Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa.
Berger started the day with a 25-foot birdie putt on the opening hole and carried the momentum with three more birdies on the back nine.
After an opening 72, McIlroy was level par at the turn before picking up four shots in seven holes to move into a share of ninth – one ahead of world number one Scottie Scheffler.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood made three birdies in his back nine to finish with a 60 and lie on one-over-par after flirting with the cut line.
“Yesterday was really disappointing, because it was just an odd day where I was just, you know, crap,” Fleetwood told PGATour.com after the second round.
“Last year I made the cut on the mark here. I played really well over the weekend. Just got to keep that in mind.”