Rory McIlroy's post-Masters hangover continues after dismal second round at Canadian Open
Rory McIlroy's US Open plans are in absolute tatters. Watching his torment in Toronto on Friday night, it was hard to equate the player who missed the cut by 10 shots with the golfer who so magnificently won the Masters just eight weeks ago to become the sixth player in history to complete the grand slam.
From immortal to backmarker. Golf is cruel. Out of the 156 players competing at the Canada Open in Toronto – an event McIlroy has won twice – the world No 2 only had three beneath him (although three did withdraw).
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This was a low point, his eight-under 78 a golfing atrocity. In tournaments he has finished, McIlroy has never endured such a poor placing. Whatever way one looks at it, it has been a kick in the teeth, so shortly after he was all pearly white smiles.
It is his only missed cut of the year and his first in 11 months. Granted, hangovers happen. But McIlroy's headache going into the US Open, which begins on Thursday, now appears to be verging on the insufferable. Especially as the American national championship is being hosted at the major venue that implodes craniums perhaps more than any other – Oakmont.
A competitor has to be able to drive it accurately at the notorious Pittsburgh layout, with fairways so narrow and rough so thick. McIlroy hit only four fairways in this second round. He just about managed to break 80, but only because TPC Toronto is a par 70. In truth, it is not a tough track. The leader, Cameron Champ, is on 12 under, 21 strokes ahead of McIlroy.
Perhaps his motivation after achieving his lifelong dream is a factor. But technically, it cannot be doubted that his driver woes are to blame. McIlroy's tee-shot game defines him and it was a huge blow for his TaylorMade Qi10 to be deemed non-conforming in the practice days at last month's US PGA. He switched to the Qi35 for this tournament, but he is struggling.
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If only it was just the driver letting him down. He was plagued by a two-way miss and this was marked most emphatically with his quadruple-bogey eight on the fifth. At the start of the week, he acknowledged that motivation is a problem after achieving his lifelong dream. Yet Oakmont is no place to head when the technique is off and the mind is not sharp.
In his absence, Champ takes a two-shot lead into the weekend over fellow American Andrew Putman. Irishman Shane Lowry is only two further off the pace on eight-under, after a 68. England's Danny Willett is on seven-under on a congested leaderboard.
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