Rory McIlroy Has Strong Statement to PGA Tour Career Worst Finish

Newsweek

10 hours ago

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Rory McIlroy arrived at the TPC Toronto with an impressive record at the RBC Canadian Open, having achieved four top-10 finishes in as many appearances, including two victories. However, his run at this event took a drastic turn in 2025 when he missed his first cut on Canadian soil.
This was McIlroy's first missed cut since last July, when he missed the weekend at the Open Championship. It was also his worst 36-hole finish of his entire PGA Tour career. Nevertheless, McIlroy remained positive when evaluating the outcome of the Canadian Open:
"I think there's still learnings that you have to take from a day like today," he said after the second round.
"Look, even though the last two days didn't go the way I wanted them to, there's still things that I can take from it, and there's still things that I can learn."
"I think there's still learnings that you have to take from a day like today."
Rory reflects on missing his first cut since @TheOpen in 2024. pic.twitter.com/R7WEo8achO — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 6, 2025
McIlroy carded three birdies and four bogeys during the first round, finishing at 1-over 71. It wasn't a stellar performance, but he still had a chance to make the cut if he improved a bit the next day.
However, things only got worse on Friday. The turning point came at the fifth hole, which McIlroy reached after making par on the first four.
At the 5th hole, a 447-yard par 4, the 29-time PGA Tour winner had one of his worst performances in recent memory. He sent his second shot well past the green and into the native area, so he took a penalty stroke. Surprisingly, he hit his fourth shot past the green again, landing the ball on a slope 77 feet from the hole.
McIlroy managed to reach the green with his fifth shot but then three-putted for quadruple bogey.
From there, the five-time major champion could not regain control of his game. He added two birdies, four bogeys, and a double bogey to finish the round 8-over, missing the cut with a 36-hole score of 9-over.
His second-round 78 was his worst since the first round of the Open Championship last July, when he also carded a 78.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his shot from the 18th tee during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open 2025 at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley on June 06, 2025 in Caledon, Ontario....
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his shot from the 18th tee during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open 2025 at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley on June 06, 2025 in Caledon, Ontario. MoreUS Open Concerns
The elephant in the room is that such a poor performance came with the U.S. Open starting in less than a week. McIlroy made no secret of his concern and hinted at how he will address the issue:
"Of course it concerns me," he said. "You don't want to shoot high scores like the one I did today. Still, I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn't."
"Obviously going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways. Still sort of searching for the sort of missing piece off the tee."
"Obviously for me, when I get that part of the game clicking, then everything falls into place for me. Right now that isn't. Yeah, that's a concern going into next week..."
"I'm going to have to do a lot of practice and a lot of work over the weekend at home and try to at least have a better idea of where my game is going into next week."
In 2025, Rory McIlroy won three of the first six tournaments he played in, including the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Players Championship, and the Masters Tournament. By winning the green jacket, he completed the highly coveted career Grand Slam.
Since his victory at the Augusta National Golf Club, the Northern Irishman has played in four other tournaments, including the Canadian Open. He added to his list a missed cut this week, a T47 at the PGA Championship, a Top 15 at the Zurich Classic, and a Top 10 at the Truist Championship.
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