Rory McIlroy overcomes club throwing and tee marker smashing tantrums to make US Open cut but Shane Lowry bows out

Irish Independent

a day ago

As Shane Lowry added to his putting torture by absent-mindedly picking up his ball on the 14th green without marking it, incurring a one-shot penalty en route to an eight-over 78 that left him on 17-over, McIlroy shot a battling 72 that left him nine shots behind clubhouse leader Sam Burns on six-over despite his frustration reaching boiling point on the back nine.
He was four-over for the day and eight-over for the championship, a shot outside the cut line, when he hooked his second 20 yards left into deep rough at the 647-yard 12th.
Utterly exasperated, he used both hands to propel his club 30 yards down the fairway.
While he walked away with a par there, he missed a 12 foot birdie chance at the short 13th, leaving him needing to play his last five holes one-under to dip inside the top 60 and ties who make the weekend.
He made a 20-footer for a birdie at the tough 15th to get back to seven-over but after missing from 35 feet at the 16th, pushed his three wood into a deep bunker at the 305-yard 17th, turned and lashed out at the left tee marker, splitting it in two.
He was on the projected seven-over cut mark playing the 18th and blasted a massive, 373-yard drive down the last before brushing in a five footer for birdie and a 72 that left him nine shots behind clubhouse Burns on six-over.
It was a rollercoaster day for the Irish duo, who started the day well off the pace — McIlroy eight shots off the lead on four-over and Lowry two shots off the predicted cut on plus-nine.
The Offaly man was so keen to improve on his dismal putting performance in the first round that he went to the putting green with coach Neil Manchip in the early morning, nearly five hours before his afternoon tee time.
But it made little difference as both he and McIlroy suffered a brutal start on Oakmont's front nine, dropping nine shots between them over the first four holes alone.
McIlroy made a double bogey six at the first as he drove into sand left, pitched out sideways and then took four to get down from there as his third scuttled off the green into heavy rough.
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He managed to par the second but double bogeyed the third as he caught the face of the bunker with his second, then fired his third through the green into more heavy rough.
He was eight over for the tournament after just three holes of his second round but it was an even tougher start for Lowry.
The 2016 runner-up at Oakmont also overshot the first green from the rough and made bogey, then took six at the 359-yard second when he flew into the back bunker with his second and failed to get out the first time of asking.
He went on to drop shots at the next two holes, joining McIlroy in flying through the back at the third before three-putting from six feet for bogey at the 626-yard fourth.
He went on to birdie the seventh from 15 feet — his first red number since his eagle two at the third on Thursday — and turned for home on 13-over.
McIlroy birdied the ninth from 33 feet for his first birdie since his third hole in the first round to turn for home needing a level par back nine to have any chance of avoiding missing the cut.
He dropped a shot at the 11th, which explained his frustration at the 12th while Lowry bogeyed the 10th and could only smile as he mistake on thee 14th green cost him two shots.
Facing a 55 footer for par, he bent down without thinking and picked up the ball before realising he'd forgotten to put down a mark.
Another shot went for the Clara man at the 15th as his high hopes of a big week evaporated with that opening 79.
American Sam Burns held the clubhouse lead on three-under after putting brilliantly for a best-of-the-week, five-under 65.
He was one shot clear of first round leader JJ Spaun (72) and two clear of Viktor Hovland who shot a 68.
Russell Henley (72) and two-time US Open winner Brooks Koepka (74) were five behind two-over while world number one Scottie Scheffler (71), former winner Jon Rahm (75) and two-time major champion Collin Morikawa (74) were in a group seven shots behind Burns.
'Honestly, I'm too annoyed and too mad right now to think about any perspective,' Rahm said after taking 35 putts.
'Very frustrated. Very few rounds of golf I played in my life where I think I hit good putts and they didn't sniff the hole, so it's frustrating.'
Scheffler was also out of sorts but pleased to 'get away' with a 71.
'I'm four-over,' Scheffler said. 'We'll see what the lead is after today, but around this golf course I don't think by any means I'm out of the tournament.'