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Rory McIlroy shot a 68 in the second round of the BMW South African Open on Friday to follow the 67 he shot on Thursday. He is 9 under for the week and tied for fifth place, just two shot back of leader Graeme Storm.

McIlroy's day was tumultuous, and it almost never got started at all.

"I thought about pulling out before teeing off today," McIlroy told the European Tour. "I tweaked my back somehow, and the first few shots today weren't very comfortable."

McIlroy played, though, and he played pretty well in spurts. After a par-bogey-birdie-double bogey start, McIlroy lit the course on fire. He played holes 8-15 in 8 under before giving a couple back with bogeys at Nos. 17 and 18. It was a 68 that felt like it could have been both a 72 and a 62.

The back injury mention is intriguing, though. McIlroy's only major injury in the early part of his career was a ruptured ankle ligament that caused him to miss the 2015 Open Championship. He has often commented that the body was not made to swing a golf club.

"You think of the golf swing and the torque and the load that you're putting on your spine," said McIlroy 11 months ago at the Genesis Open. "The spine does two things: It flexes and it rotates. And it doesn't like to flex and rotate at the same time, which is what a golf swing does.

"So if anything, the golf swing is way worse for your back than anything I do in the gym. So I'm trying to make my back as strong as I possibly can so that when I come out here and swing a golf club at 120 miles an hour, I'm robust enough to take that 200 times a day when I hit shots and when I practice and when I play golf."

Hopefully this tweak in South Africa was just an odd one-off rather than something that will linger throughout the season.

McIlroy narrowly finished on Friday before the horn blew in South Africa to suspend play for the rest of the second round with just a handful of players still out on the course. He has only played this tournament twice (he missed the cut and finished third last time), and he has not participated in nearly a decade.

Storm, who leads by two over McIlroy, conceded after his 63 that this is still McIlroy's tournament to lose.

"I could have birdied a couple more of the par fives, I only birdied one of them today," Storm said. "So to shoot 63 and only having birdied one of the par fives around here, you know, I've played pretty well. I tip Rory to win this week because he hits it miles and he hits it straight. If I keep on his tail, I'll be happy."