But in spite of his many thrills and spills, the Australian remains firmly in contention at the Jack Nicklaus hosted event in Dublin, Ohio.

Scott fired a two-under 70 to sit alongside World No.2 Jon Rahm in a seven-player tie for 10th, three shots behind leader Davis Riley.

The Queenslander could have been forgiven for thinking he was back at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast on Thursday after his up-and-down ride.

Beginning on the 10th, the 42-year-old mixed three bogeys with two birdies.

He then posted three birdies, two bogeys and an eagle on the par-5 5th on his back nine.

Scott and the rest of the field will now try to hunt down Riley, who birdied three of his last four holes to post 67.

The American leads by one from Englishman Matt Wallace, while Jordan Spieth is in the group at 69.

Wallace, who needs a victory this week to avoid U.S. Open qualifying, posted his 68 in the morning before the wind and the temperatures picked up.

Rory McIlroy’s form looked to be on the improve. He was three-under for his round playing the 18th when his drive leaked right and was tumbling toward the sand until it stopped. The ball was nearly belt-high and he could barely take a stance. He did his best to chop it out, and it just cleared the bunker into thick grass.

From there, he caught a flyer with his 9-iron and flew the putting surface. His flop shot came out clunky and rolled by the front pin. He missed the putt and his triple-bogey wiped out an otherwise good day.

Riley's only bogey was nearly a superb par, from the dreaded back bunker on the 18th to four-feet, but he missed the putt. A good round turned into a great one when he made a 12-foot birdie on the 6th, he then hit a wedge to four-feet on the par-5 7th making another birdie, and wrapped up his day burying a 12-foot birdie putt on the 9th hole, his last of the day.

Aussies Cam Davis (74), David Micheluzzi (75), Jason Day (76) and Lucas Herbert (76) have their work cut out for them if they want to play the weekend.

American Chad Ramey shot a 16-over 88 to prop up the field.

He hit four shots into the water on the 9th hole, which featured a front pin and a stream in front of the green. He made a 13, the highest score ever recorded on any of the holes at Muirfield Village.