Rory McIlroy revealed a back injury almost forced him to withdraw from the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni before his remarkable rollercoaster second round at Glendower Golf Club.
The World Number Two found himself nine shots off the lead after a bogey and a double in his first four holes but he found his rhythm on the eighth and produced a masterclass of iron-play and putting.
An eagle started a run of eight shots gained in eight holes with a remarkable eight one-putts as the Northern Irishman surged to within one shot of the lead, held by Graeme Storm.
A closing pair of bogeys took some of the gloss off his 68 and McIlroy revealed after his round that he nearly did not tee-off on Friday.
"I'm actually surprised I'm standing here, I actually thought about pulling out before even teeing off today," he said.
"I tweaked my back somehow and the first few shots today weren't very comfortable and it still isn't really comfortable. I can't really take a deep breath because I've done something to my upper back.
"I'm going to go get some treatment now. Considering that, I played well, stuck at it and hopefully I can feel better tomorrow.
"I don't want to withdraw, it would let a lot of people down so that's why I kept going today. As I said, I'm going to get some physio now and hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow."
I'm actually surprised I'm standing here - Rory McIlroy
McIlroy's run from the eighth to the 15th was one of the most scintillating spells of golf you could ever wish to see but, ever the perfectionist, the four-time Major Championship winner was left to dwell on those two closing bogeys.
"The middle was good," he said. "Once I got it going and saw putts going in I got some momentum which was nice.
"Disappointed to finish the way I did, I thought I hit a good shot on 17, it just pitched a bit too far. Then 18 I was probably just rushing a bit to get in before the weather.
"Overall, the start and the finish wasn't great but everything in between was pretty good and I'm still in contention heading into the weekend."
