Masters runner-up Will Zalatoris shot a course record 11-under 61 to move into a share of the lead at the Sanderson Farms Championship alongside Nick Watney and Sahith Theegala on Friday.

Zalatoris, Watney and day one leader Theegala are all 13 under at the halfway point, with American pair Cameron Young and Hayden Buckley one stroke behind at the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi.

Sergio Garcia followed his Ryder Cup disappointment by failing to make the cut, with back-to-back rounds of 70.

Zalatoris, who finished one shot behind Hideki Matsuyama at the Masters in April, shot 11 birdies to steal the show on Friday.

The 25-year-old Californian had carded a two-under 70 in the opening round but rocketed up the leaderboard, buoyed by three birdies on his opening four holes on Saturday.

Zalatoris' round included sinking an 18-foot putt on the fourth and a 20 footer on the 18th.

"I think it's funny that I get given a hard time about my putting and if you add in Augusta last year which didn't have Shot Link I would have been a positive strokes gained putter," Zalatoris said. "Is it the prettiest? No. But am I productive? Yes.

"So the days where I make 20-footers, those are the days that I end up putting great round together, because I'm always going to be the guy that's going to hit 14 plus greens to give myself chances."

After Zalatoris' 11-under round, the next best was Young, Buckley and Denny McCarthy with seven-under 65s.

Canadian Roger Sloan is behind Young and Buckley at 11 under after two rounds, with American Sam Burns among a group of six at 10 under.

PGA Tour rookie Sahith Theegala birdied his first three holes and maintained his impressive form to lead the field after the opening round of the Sanderson Farms Classic. 

The 23-year-old Californian looked right at home in Mississippi, turning in a bogey-free round for an eight-under-par 64 at the Country Club of Jackson. 

His countrymen Nick Watney and Harold Varner III were one stroke back after shooting 65, while Roger Sloan, Kurt Kitayama and Kim Si-woo were at 66. 

Fresh off his Ryder Cup disappointment, defending tournament champion Sergio Garcia was six strokes back after shooting 70 in a round that featured two birdies and 16 pars. 

Among other former major winners in the field, Keegan Bradley shot 72 and Zach Johnson 73 in the opening round. 

The story of the day, though, was Theegala, who hit 11 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens in regulation.

After earning his 2021-22 PGA Tour card with a strong finish in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals last month, Theegala described his round Thursday as "stress-free". 

"I don't think I've had a lot of time to think about all this stuff, so it just feels like I'm kind of just on a roll and I'm not really thinking about big situations or stuff like that, just feels like I'm playing golf," he said. "So that's helped a little bit,not having expectations, kind of just being on a free roll the whole time."

His inexperience on Tour may bode well for Theegala this week. Six of the last seven Sanderson Farms champions have been first-time winners, with Garcia the exception. 

If there ever was a course to get slumping Rory McIlroy back on track, Quail Hollow might be it. 

McIlroy shot a five-under-par 66 Friday at the Wells Fargo Championship to make the cut for the first time in two months and reach four-under for the tournament, two strokes behind leaders Matt Wallace, Gary Woodland and Patrick Rodgers. 

First-round leader Phil Mickelson dropped to a tie for 10th overall after carding a 75 at the Charlotte, North Carolina course. 

Only Roger Sloan (64) went lower than McIlroy in the second round, as the 32-year-old recorded six birdies and just one bogey after shooting 72 in the first round. 

The Northern Irishman recorded his first PGA Tour victory at Quail Hollow in 2010 and won there again in 2015. He lost out to Rickie Fowler in a three-man playoff in 2012. 

McIlroy is playing his first tournament since missing the cut at the Masters and The Players Championship, the latter coming a week after a 10th-place finish at the Arnold Palmer invitational in early March. 

"When you played the way I played sort of through that stretch in March and into April, you're going to feel like you're not as close as you probably are," McIlroy told reporters. 

"But I worked hard after Augusta. I took a week off and reset, which I needed.

"Then I put my head down and worked hard and at least felt better about everything coming in here."

Among the three leaders heading into the weekend, Wallace shot 67 Friday, Rodgers 68 and Woodland 69.

Kramer Hickok is one stroke back at five-under for the tournament, while Scott Piercy, Keith Mitchell, Carlos Ortiz and Scott Stallings are tied with McIlroy at four-under. 

Mickelson and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson are among those at three-under, while 2018 Masters winner Patrick Reed sits four back of the leaders. 

Justin Thomas is six back entering the weekend, while 2020 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and 2020 Open Championship winner Shane Lowry just made the two-over cut. 

Among those who missed the cut were past major champions Fowler, Jason Day, Francesco Molinari and Lucas Glover  in addition to defending champion Max Homa and Jon Rahm.

Rahm had made 22 consecutive cuts, the longest active streak on Tour.