Morikawa leads Aberg, Scheffler and McIlroy at RBC Heritage halfway mark

Morikawa added a five-under-par 66 to his opening 65 to join Tom Hoge, Sepp Straka and overnight leader J.T Poston at the top of the leaderboard on 11 under par.

The quartet are one ahead of a trio of golfers led by rising star Aberg, who shot his second consecutive 66 to join Patrick Rodgers and Mackenzie Hughes on 10 under.

Aberg ended in style with four birdies in his last six holes

"I feel like it tested my patience a little bit more than it did yesterday. Obviously I came out a little bit hotter yesterday than I did today. But we didn't try to force anything. We stayed very disciplined and ended up finishing birdie-birdie, which was kind of a bonus on those two holes, but obviously very pleased with the way we've been playing," he said.

Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala follow in a tie for eighth a further shot back, while the spectre of two-time Masters champion and World No 1 Scheffler looms large just one behind.

Scheffler admitted his first-round 69 was caused by a bit of a Masters hangover but normal service resumed on Friday as he jumped into contention with a well-played 65.

"It was a good day. I felt like I could have shot a lot lower. Felt like I had some putts that were going up and at least had a chance of going in and didn't. But other than that, yeah, played really good golf. Proud of today's effort," he said.

At seven under par, just four off the pace, Rory McIlroy also can't be ruled out, rounds of 67 and 68 leaving him in a six-way tie for 12th.

Another large group follows on six under, including Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele.