back nine

The only blemish on Takeda's scorecard was a double-bogey seven at the ninth, with four birdies on the back nine putting her alongside Okayama at the top of the leaderboard.

He dissected one of the world's toughest courses on Friday, with three birdies in his opening seven holes and three more on the back nine.

McIlroy's challenge faltered on the back nine and he shared second place with England's Marco Penge.

But the Australian steadied on the back nine, hitting back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th.

However, after torrential rain stopped play for an hour and a half, the 34-year-old regained his composure to find three fine birdies on the back nine.