Following a level-par opening round, Northern Irishman McIlroy will begin the third round tied ninth after he improved to four under.

McIlroy remained even as he reached the back nine but birdied four of the next seven holes to post 68 and climb up the leaderboard.

World number one Scottie Scheffler appeared set to match his opening round 70 but the American slipped to three under after bogeying the 18th.

Tommy Fleetwood rallied with three birdies on the back nine to get back to one over par and inside the weekend cut-off.

Berger has suffered a run of injuries, including a back issue which sidelined him for 18 months and fractured a finger at the BMW Championship in August last year.

He put himself on course for a long-awaited victory – and the £3m top prize – after a clean run on the back nine included three birdies to strengthen his position.

“I actually feel like I played better [today], the course was a little tougher,” Berger said.

“I’m looking forward to the next couple of days and seeing the challenge they bring.”