Rory McIlroy says he “can’t wait” to watch Shane Lowry bid for his second Claret Jug this weekend and turned his thoughts to a vacation and the Olympic Games after turning in the second-worst Major performance of his major career at Royal Troon.
Any faint hope he entertained of making the cut evaporated when he dropped six shots in a “horrible” four-hole stretch from the third before, following a bogey at the third with a triple-bogey eight at the fourth and bogeys at the fifth and sixth before he played the last 12 in a “meaningless” two-under par.
He added a 76 to his opening 78 and missed the cut by five shots on 11-over 153 – the second-highest 36-hole total of his 63-Major career – to extend his winless streak in the big four events to 10 years.
“Once I made the eight on the fourth hole, that was it,” he said after a day when he missed the sixth green by 30 yards with a wedge. “Twenty-two holes into the event and I’m thinking about where I’m going to go on vacation next week.”
He added: “When I look back on the two Majors that I didn’t play my best at, here and the Masters, the wind got the better of me on Friday at Augusta, and then the wind got the better of me the last two days here.
“I didn’t adapt well at all to that left-to-right wind yesterday on the back nine, and then this afternoon going out in that gusty wind on the front, as I said, it got the better of me, and I felt pretty uncomfortable over a few shots.”
He pointed out that there is still a lot to play for this season, including his next start in the Olympic Games in Paris as well as the Race to Dubai and the FedEx Cup.
“I feel like I say this every Open Championship, but it’s not as if we only play four events a year. We play like 25, so there are still a few things there’s left to play for,” he said.
“Obviously the Majors have come and gone, but to sort of refocus and try to reset for the Olympics, which will be another cool experience, and try to play well there, and then again, I’m in contention to try to win both titles on either side of the Atlantic, so still some things to play for until the end of the year.”
He’s looking forward now to seeing pal Lowry try to win his second Claret Jug this weekend,
“Yeah, I can’t wait to watch this weekend,” he said. “He’s so creative. I think even just watching the coverage the last couple of days, that little sort of squeezy cut that he can hit, especially going out in that front nine, is going to be really helpful to him.
“He relishes these conditions. The Open Championship is his favourite tournament in the world. He gets more up for this than anything else. I’m looking forward to cheering him on and hopefully him getting his second jug.”
As for the rest of the Irish, Tom McKibbin made it two cuts from two Major starts, adding a 72 to his opening 73 to sit alongside Pádraig Harrington on three-over. Harrington overcame an ice-cold putter and renewed his belief he can still compete with the young guns just a week after missing the cut by four shots in the Scottish Open.
“I could easily be well under par here – two-, three-under par, four-under par,” the Dubliner said after rounds of 72 and 73 did little justice to his play.
Darren Clarke also showed he can still compete on links terrain, firing a level-par 71 to make the cut on six-over while Galway amateur Liam Nolan was far from downcast after rounds of 78 and 77 left him on 13-over.
“Yeah, incredible,” Nolan said. “It was really tough conditions out there. So, you know, a lot to learn from my first Major and I’ll be back. There is a lot to take away from it.”