Rory McIlroy feels he is starting to find more confidence in his game after a much-improved second round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. McIlroy looked in danger of missing the cut after struggling to an opening-round 75 at Bay Hill, only to bounce back with a birdie-filled 67 on Friday to move back in to contention. Leaderboard Arnold Palmer Invitational The Northern Irishman was left surprised by his slow start to the tournament on Thursday, where he double-bogeyed the first and found the water three times, but had plenty more to smile about after a far more consistent display both tee to green and with the putter. McIlroy still sits 11 shots adrift of runaway leader Jason Day, although six birdies and just one blemish has given the 26-year-old plenty of encouragement heading in to the weekend.I said after yesterdays round I was just trying to stay patient and came out and started off really solid and kept it up, McIlroy said. I drove the ball nicely and hit a lot of good quality shots into the greens. Its very easy to get ahead of myself, especially with how Ive played earlier this year.You can get a little bit caught up in it sometimes but you just have to make sure youre doing the right things, youre working hard, youre working towards that goal and the last few days has been fantastic.Beginning on the back nine, McIlroy made the perfect start by holing a 15-footer at the 10th before draining another birdie from slightly further out at the par-5 12th. Rory McIlroy says he is going to focus on his own game over the weekend and not worry about chasing the leading pack at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Having tapped-in from close range over the next two, the Northern Irishman pitched to 10 feet at the 15th to move back level par for the week.McIlroys red-hot putting suffered a slight blip with a two-putt par from six feet at 16, but the world No 3 bounced back to drain a 14-foot par-save at the 18 and reach the turn in 33.After drilling in from over 30 feet at the first to get back under par for the week, McIlroy continued to surge up the leaderboard when pitched close to the third flag and leave a kick-in birdie. McIlroy was pleased with his improvement McIlroy recovered from a wayward approach to get up-and-down from the sand and save par at the next, before posting another long-range birdie from 25 feet at the fifth.His only blemish of the day came when he misjudged his chip out of the rough at the short seventh and failed to save par from 15 feet, with McIlroy closing his round with two two-putt pars.I had one kick-in on three but for the most part played the par-fives great again and just putted great, McIlroy added.The two bombs that I holed today on 17 and nine definitely helped, but I felt like these sorts of scores were coming, so I just had to be patient with myself.Watch the Arnold Palmer Invitational throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf Also See: Bay Hill leaderboard First round highlights Slow start shocks McIlroy Golf live on Sky Sports 4 Eddie Jackson Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Wholesale Custom Bears Shirts . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. http://www.custombearsjersey.com/custom-jeff-fisher-jersey-large-1126t.html . Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations. Willie Galimore Jersey . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Aaron Lynch Jersey . PAUL, Minn. NORFOLK, Va. -- David Washington threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 69 yards and another score to lead Old Dominion to a 33-19 win over UTSA in the Conference USA opener for both teams on Saturday.Jeremy Cox totaled a career-high 103 rushing yards and two touchdowns for Old Dominion (2-2, 1-0). Jonathan Duhart hauled in six passes for 86 yards and two scoresUTSA (1-3, 0-1) closed to 25-19 when Brady Jones hit Kirk Johnson on an 8-yard scoring strike after Johnson had passed back to Jones with 46 seconds left in the third quarter.ddddddddddddThe Monarchs got some breathing room in the final period when Washington passed to Duhart from the 1 for the final score.Jarveon Williams rushed for 93 yards for the Roadrunners. Dalton Strum threw for 103 yards but was sacked for a minus 34 yards on the ground. ' ' '