An Air Shot And A Birdie Blitz - Rory McIlroy's Box Office Finish To Make The Australian Open Cut

The bumper crowd following Rory McIlroy at Royal Melbourne got their money's worth as he produced a box office end to the round to ensure he made the cut at the Australian Open.

Fans, and sponsors, will be delighted that tournament headliner McIlroy will be around at the weekend - but it didn't look that way after a bogey on the 14th left him outside the cut mark.

Stuck under a huge bush on 14, McIlroy attempted a Seve-esque escape while stooping under the foliage, but produced a rare air shot, with a brisk swipe of his iron whipping above the ball and hitting nothing but thin air.

That left McIlroy red faced and at one over for the tournament - staring down the barrel of a missed cut - but he rolled his sleeves up and produced some of his very best golf with three birdies in the closing four holes.

At two under he's still seven shots off leaders Dan Rodrigues and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, but he'll still be a huge draw on Saturday and teeing off a couple of hours before home hopes Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Cameron Smith is almost the perfect scenario for tournament organisers.

And much more of the golf he showed in the final four holes - notably almost driving the par-four 15th green and setting up an eagle chance with a stunning iron out of the rough on 17 - will not only thrill the huge expected crowds but also give the world number two a chance to challenge.

“I certainly haven’t had my best stuff over the last couple of days, but it was nice to finish the way that I did," said McIlroy, who last played the Australian Open back in 2014.

“It wasn’t looking great after the bogey on 14, but overall, a great finish, delighted to be here for the weekend."

After all that, McIlroy finished with a three-under round of 68 after 36 holes of pure golfing theatre, as his first-round 72 also had a bit of everything with five birdies and six bogeys.

The Grand Slam champion still feels that he's not too far behind the leaders to launch a challenge for a second Australian Open title at the weekend.

“Seven isn’t too far back. I feel like if I can go out tomorrow morning and shoot a good one, I can get myself right back into the tournament."

'Not one of my finer moments' - McIlroy on air shot

McIlroy could only smile as he descrived his air shot on 14.

“I honestly can’t remember the last time I had a fresh air," said McIlroy. "Not one of my finer moments but nice to bounce back after that and play like I did the last few holes.

“I felt like I could get in there really low, like Seve used to, flick a four iron and just get back into play and on the way down caught a branch and obviously just completely went over the ball."

McIlroy was again playing alongside Australian crowd favourites Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee - and both are right there in contention heading into the weekend.

Lee shot a brilliant 65 to sit on eight under, just a shot behind the leading pair, while Scott is just a stroke further back on seven under after carding a 66 in his second round.

Scott will be popular again on Saturday as he'll play alongside Cameron Smith, who made his first cut of the year to join the veteran in a tie for fourth.