Cameron Smith takes command of Memorial Tournament but Rory McIlroy still in touch

Cameron Smith continued his fine start at the Memorial Tournament by ending the second day at the top of the leaderboard.

The Australian started the day in a six-way tie for the lead and seized control with a strong round that contained just one bogey.

That left Smith on eight under, with American Denny McCarthy and South Korean Lee Kyoung-hoon a shot back. Davis Riley, Cameron Young, Luke List, Jhonattan Vegas and Billy Horschel are all six under.

Rory McIlroy is also in contention, with the Northern Irishman tied for ninth at five under par.

"I'm playing some of the best golf of my life, Queenslander Smith said. "I think mentally I'm in a good spot. I've got a few things to tidy up with my longer stuff.

"I think just kind of scrambling really good [was the feature of my round].

"It was kind of two different stories, the front and back nine for me.

"I flushed it on the front nine and then (had) a few mistakes off the tee and into the greens on the back nine and just stuck in there and just a few really solid up-and-downs.

"I feel as though I prepared for this week pretty good.

"Obviously very comfortable with my game, very confident in my game, but this place for me is always a hard one given the driver doesn't really go straight for me.

"So I really worked on that last week and just giving myself as many birdie opportunities as I can, and just hit some good shots.

"Not much really, just hit a few more balls. I tend to get pretty lazy hitting balls, by the time I get to drive I generally want to go home, so I just stuck around for an extra 15-20 minutes and hit some drivers."