TROON, Scotland — The Rory McIlroy count now moves to 11 years without a major championship, spanning 38 of them since his last victory, in 2014.
That’s because McIlroy failed to make the cut at the British Open, finishing stunning and disappointing 11-over par for two days.
Any chance of rallying from his opening-round 7-over-par 78 were dashed early when McIlroy took a triple-bogey on the par-5 fourth hole and was 6-over par for the day through six holes.
“Obviously got off to the worst start possible,” McIlroy said. “Once I made the 8 on the 4th hole, that was it. Twenty-two holes into the event and I’m thinking about where I’m going to go on vacation next week. That was basically it.
“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.”
Robert McIntyre was always going to be one of the compelling figures coming into this Open, as a Scotsman who’d just won the Scottish Open.
He was in strong position to begin the day at 1-over par.
And then he imploded early in his second round, going 8-over-par on his first four holes, with a pair of triple bogeys.
But McIntyre battled back to make the cut at 5-over par, thanks to playing his final 14 holes in 4-under par.
“That was carnage,” McIntyre said of the start. “When I made that 8 on [No.] 4, my head was completely gone. I didn’t think I was going to make the weekend. After four holes, I was staring 90 in the face.
“I’ve got a lot of pride in myself. I saw an attitude. You could see me getting angrier and angrier and angrier. The golf game was going away from me. I was hitting stupid shots, hitting terrible shots.
“Once we calmed down, it was just simply, ‘How do we get this thing in under 90’ at one point, but really it was trying to break 80.”
McIntytre said had this happened to him a year ago, “I’d have been gone. I’d have been in my car already and up the road. The start wasn’t good, but the end was good. I’m just proud of the way I fought, kind of making this cut, especially after last week.’’
If you don’t think making the cut at a British Open means much to millionaire golfers, look at the reaction from Max Homa after he drained a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th Friday evening to get to 6-over par, the cut line to play the weekend.
It was pure and it was priceless.
“I’m just proud of myself,’’ Homa said. “This is my favorite tournament in the world. So, to have the chance to potentially play two more days … I had an out-of-body experience. I didn’t really expect to yell like I won a golf tournament. It just felt really good. I felt like I fought all day.”
Homa survived a triple bogey on 12 and birdied 16 and 18 to make it on the number.
Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1, is five shots off the lead at 2-under par.
Scheffler, who has six wins this season, has come from behind after 36 holes in six of his 11 stroke-play victories on the PGA Tour.
This is the third time in four career appearances at the Open when he’s positioned inside the top 10 after 36 holes.
He’s seeking to become the first player to win multiple majors in a year since Brooks Koepka (2018 U.S. Open, 2018 PGA Championship).
The last time all four majors in a year were won by players from the U.S. was 1982 (Craig Stadler/Masters Tournament, Tom Watson/U.S. Open, The Open Championship, Raymond Floyd/PGA Championship).
The top 10 players from the U.S. Open leaderboard are a combined 43-over par entering the weekend.
Bryson DeChambeau (9-over), Rory McIlroy (11-over), Tony Finau (10-over), Patrick Cantlay (1-under), Mathieu Pavon (2-over), Hideki Matsuyama (5-over), Sam Burns (3-over), Davis Thompson (5-over) and Corey Conners (1-under)
Among the players from LIV Golf in the Open field, nine of them made the cut, which was 6-over.
Dean Burmester has had the best week, at 2-under par, followed by Joaquin Niemann at even, then Dustin Johnson, Koepka, Jon Rahm at 1-over.
Adrian Meronk is 3-over as is Laurie Canter.
Phil Mickelson and Andy Ogletree are each 5-over.
The LIV players who missed the cut includes Abraham Ancer (6-over), Henrik Stenson (8-over), Louis Oosthuizen (8-over), DeChambeau (9-over), Cam Smith (12-over), David Puig (14-over), John Catlin (5-over) and Tyrrell Hatton (8-over).
