SAN FRANCISCO • World No. 1 Jon Rahm of Spain can now focus on preparing for next week's Ryder Cup after missing the cut at the Fortinet Championship on Friday, as Maverick McNealy capped a wild eight-under 64 with a chip-in eagle to grab the halfway lead.

Along with his eagle at the par-five ninth hole, McNealy had nine birdies and three bogeys at Silverado Resort in Napa, California, for a 12-under total of 132.

"It was crazy," said the 25-year-old American, who played his first nine in five under and then opened his second nine with three straight bogeys.

He followed that with four birdies in a row, rolling in a nine-footer at the fourth, a four-footer at the fifth and another nine-footer at the sixth before holing out from a greenside bunker at the seventh.

After his "flawless" first nine, McNealy said, chance played a role in his back-nine struggles.

"I got to the first hole... dumped it in the bunker and shanked the bunker shot, got up and down for bogey and then bogeyed the next two," he said.

"I was kind of going, oh, man, this is going the wrong way quick."

He turned it around, however, and after chipping in from 74 feet short of the green at the ninth, he heads into the weekend with a two-stroke lead over Beau Hossler (64) and Chile's Mito Pereira (67).

The prospect of being at the top ended for Rahm, who has been struggling with a stomach bug this week, with a one-under 71.

His one-under total of 143 left him two shots outside the cutline and gave him what could be a useful weekend off, as he prepares to play for Europe against the United States in the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits next week.

He insisted there was no cause for concern with his game with the matchplay showdown looming.

"Still wasn't bad. Could have been better on the greens. Feel like I might have made a couple of mistakes mentally on some approach shots, but I think I left a lot of shots on the greens," he said.

He had hoped tournament play in the first event of the PGA Tour's 2021-22 season would keep him sharp heading into the Ryder Cup.

But his week did not go according to plan, as he found himself battling illness that prompted him to pull out of Wednesday's pro-am.

"It was a tough course out there. If anything, I get to rest a couple extra days and (will) be able to figure out what's going on with my swing, which technically is not really anything bad," he said.

"It's just I think a lot of those swings were made to look worse because of how tough it is out there."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS