AGONY FOR RORY
McIlroy out of US Open ...and we’re only halfway
A ROUND from Rory McIlroy that flirted with greatness for the first nine holes somehow ended in a spectacular missed halfway cut at the US Open. The Ulsterman is heading home to take in Northern Ireland’s game at Euro 2016 against Germany on Tuesday — and he might need the entire flight to work out how his tournament ended so early.
All the doubts engendered by an opening round of 77 disappeared as he played his first seven holes in four under par. From 123rd when he finished his first round, he was looking at the top 20 when, at his eighth hole, the driveable par-four 17th, he found the green with his tee shot. From that point on for the next six holes, McIlroy continued to play picture perfect golf but ran up a statistic he might not repeat for the rest of his days.
Beginning at that 17th hole, he had birdie putts, in sequence, measuring 8ft, 15ft, 9ft, 6ft, 20ft and 13ft. Given his hot start, you would think he would have ended that run in line for the first 62 in Major history. As it turned out, he played them in two over. You might well ask how that could be possible. The answer is not only did he miss all of those birdie putts but, at the fourth, he needed three more putts from three feet for a double bogey. Chalk another one up for Oakmont’s diabolical greens.
The four-putt changed everything. Errors crept into his game. At the fifth — ironically, given all the putts he had missed — he chipped in for par, but a bogey at the sixth left him on the six over cut mark.
At the eighth he made a great up and down for par but at the ninth, a poor drive into one of Oakmont’s notorious fairway bunkers left him having to gamble to reach the green. The high-risk shot failed as he drilled it into the steep face and the ball stayed in the bunker.
It led to a devastating double bogey and the disappointment was writ large on his face. He knew he had played well enough to contend, never mind going home early. Mind you, he was hardly alone in his struggles when it came to the world’s top five players. Rickie Fowler, the numebr five, also missed the cut while the best-placed of the other three at halfway was defending champion Jordan Spieth in 35th place.
World No1 Jason Day and fourthranked Bubba Watson were tied 45th. Half the field completed their second rounds yesterday but none caught Dustin Johnson, who posted a four under total on Friday night.
Shane Lowry joined Sergio Garcia on two under after a 70 while Lee Westwood battled back from a horrific spell midway through his round for a 72 that left him just three off the pace, alongside fellow Englishman Andy Sullivan.
And so as the course dried out after the two inches of rain that fell during storms on Thursday, we started getting the US Open we were expecting as the third round got underway yesterday afternoon.
There was Westwood bouncing between birdies and bogeys; Watson hitting two blows to within 40ft of the flag at the 619-yard par five fourth and walking off with a seven. Then there was Frenchman Gregory Bourdy picking up the theme of the first two days when a number of lesser-known pros enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame.
We had seen Texan Andrew Landry shoot 66, the lowest first round at Oakmont and fellow American Daniel Summerhays fire a 65 on Friday. Now it was the turn of Bourdy, a four-time winner on the European Tour but who has reached the age of 34 without ever finishing in the top 25 in a Major. He might never have a better chance after a fine 67 that left him two off the lead but he really should have been alongside Johnson before he became yet another victim of these greens.
At the 18th his fine approach pitched 10ft from the flag but trickled back to 30 yards away. Just to add insult to injury, his ball finished in the back of a divot. He caught it fat and ended up with the most unfortunate of double bogeys.