Rory McIlroy needed to press Friday afternoon at The Open.
Unfortunately for McIlroy, he’s already pressed the eject button.
After an opening-round 78, McIlroy started his second round in gusty conditions at Royal Troon with back-to-back pars. He then bogeyed the par-4 third hole before a disastrous triple bogey at the par-5 fourth that dropped him to 11 over, a whopping six shots back of the projected cut line.
At No. 4, McIlroy yanked his drive into the right fescue, and from there he could only hack his ball forward a couple yards. He muscled his third out into the fairway, about 166 yards from the hole. He would need three more shots to find the green, sending his fourth shot long and right into the rough and his next through the green and into a bunker.
A missed 4-footer capped McIlroy’s triple bogey.
With scoring not likely to get any easier the rest of the day, McIlroy has what seems like an impossible task ahead if he wants to avoid his first Open missed cut since 2019 at Royal Portrush. McIlroy had finished T-7 or better in eight of his past 11 majors.