Thomas equals Sawgrass record as McIlroy two off lead

The Players Championship - second-round leaderboard

-11 MW Lee (Aus), A Bhatia (US); -10 JJ Spaun (US); -9 R McIlroy (NI), C Morikawa (US), A Smalley (US)

Selected others: -8 W Zalatoris (US); -7 T Fleetwood (Eng); -6 S Straka (Aut); -5 S Scheffler (US), S Jaeger (Ger), R MacIntyre (Sco); -4 J Thomas (US); -2 A Rai (Eng); -1 X Schauffele (US), S Lowry (Ire); E J Rose (Eng), +2 L Aberg (Swe); +4 V Hovland (Nor)

Justin Thomas equalled the TPC Sawgrass course record with a stunning 10-under-par 62 at The Players Championship in Florida, while Rory McIlroy is just two shots off the lead at the halfway stage.

It represented a remarkable turnaround from Thomas, who carded a six-over 78 in his opening round and began Friday in serious danger of missing the cut.

The 31-year-old American became the first player to register 11 birdies in a single round at the PGA Tour's flagship event as he matched the course record set by Tom Hoge in 2023.

Thomas' 16-stroke improvement is also the biggest from the first to the second round in the event's history and lifted him 104 places on the leaderboard.

Despite finding the water with his second shot at the 18th, which resulted in a disappointing bogey to finish, the two-time US PGA champion is now only seven shots adrift of joint leaders Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia.

"Crazy is an understatement. It is wild. I am just really proud of myself," Thomas told Sky Sports.

"The score is great but just to come out with the attitude and mentality. The position I put myself in I needed to do something crazy just to make the cut."

Thomas' spectacular performance sets up an intriguing weekend, with live commentary and coverage of Saturday's third round and Sunday's finale on the BBC Sport website and BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.

Australia's Lee, 26, and American, Bhatia, 23, both signed for rounds of 66 to sit on 11 under overall, one shot ahead of JJ Spaun.

Northern Ireland's McIlroy recorded a four-under 68 to stay in touch at nine under - two shots back.

It was the world number two's second-lowest 36-hole score at TPC Sawgrass, which he only bettered when emerging victorious in 2019.

Collin Morikawa's 65 also equalled his lowest round on the Stadium Course, while England's Tommy Fleetwood, who is yet to win on the PGA Tour, is also well placed on seven under after carding a 66.

World number one Scottie Scheffler is two shots back following a 70, while Xander Schauffele, who played alongside McIlroy and Scheffler in the marquee group, birdied his final hole of the day to finish one under.

That ensured the reigning US PGA and Open champion extended his proud run of 59 consecutive cuts made, the longest since Tiger Woods' stretch of 142 from 1998-2005.

While the relatively benign conditions provided an ideal platform for scoring on Friday, the forecast is less favourable for the weekend.

Wind gusts up to 30mph are expected for Saturday and Sunday, but McIlroy believes he is well equipped to deal with the challenge as he seeks a second Players title.

"I'm looking forward to it," he said. "I think it's going to be really important to try to flight your ball and keep it under the tree line. I think once it gets above the tree line here it can start to really get hit by it.

"It does swirl a little bit, but I think when the wind is so strong it will be a little more consistent. This course is challenging enough, but with a wind like that I'm excited for that challenge.

"Just trying to control my ball flight, trying to hit different shots, trying to play with some creativity is something that I think I've gotten a lot better at over the last few years."