McIlroy fights but misses cut
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Everyone in the massive grandstand rose to cheer and celebrate a bold performance by Rory McIlroy, who longed for such support and affection on his walk toward his final hole at Royal Portrush Golf Club in the British Open.
Except this was Friday, and now McIlroy can only watch on the weekend as one of his best friends, Ireland’s Shane Lowry, goes after the coveted claret jug. Lowry birdied four of his opening five holes on his way to a 4-under-par 67 in the second round and shared the 36-hole lead with J.B. Holmes of the United States, who had a 68.
A pair of Englishmen, Tommy Fleetwood and Lee Westwood, were one stroke back in third after each shot a 67. They were one shot ahead of Justin Harding (65), Justin Rose (67) and Cameron Smith (66). Two Americans with multiple major victories were among those tied for eighth and just three shots out of the lead, though things have gone very differently for Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth over the past two years.
All of that could wait.
This day was all about McIlroy, who kept the sellout crowd on edge as he tried to make the cut after opening with a 79. The roars had the intensity of a final round as McIlroy ran off five birdies in seven holes to brighten a gloomy sky over the North Atlantic. Needing one last birdie, his approach took a wrong turn along the humps left of the 18th green. He made par for a 65. “It’s a moment I envisaged for the last few years,” the 30-year-old Northern Ireland native said. “It just happened two days early.”
He was disappointed. He was proud of his play. Mostly, though, he said he was “full of gratitude toward every single one of the people that followed me to the very end and was willing me on.”
“As much as I came here at the start of the week saying I wanted to do it for me,” he said, “by the end of the round there today I was doing it just as much for them.”
The cut was at 1 over, and 27-year-old Chattanooga native Keith Mitchell missed it by a stroke after following
his opening 75 with a 69 in his first British Open. Fellow Baylor School graduate Luke List was also out early after shooting 73-76.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods won’t be around, either. It was the first time in 77 major tournaments they have played as professionals that both missed the cut at the same time. Darren Clarke, who honed his game on these Dunluce Links as a junior and now calls Portrush home, missed the cut in a most cruel fashion with a triple bogey on his final hole.
The first British Open in Northern Ireland since 1951 moves on without them, still with the promise of a great show.
Lowry was so nervous he was shaking on the tee when the tournament began Thursday, swept up in the emotion of a British Open on the Emerald Isle and at a course he knows. He gave fans plenty to cheer when he opened his second round with three straight birdies, added a birdie on the fifth and holed a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 10 to reach 10 under, making him the only player this week to reach double figures under par.
The cheers were as loud as the 32-year-old has heard in a professional career highlighted by four European Tour wins, a World Golf Championship victory at the 2015 Bridgestone Invitational and a four-stroke lead entering the final round of the 2016 U.S. Open that turned into a runner-up finish.
“Just incredible,” Lowry said. “You can’t but smile, can’t but laugh how it is. There’s no point trying to shy away from it. It’s an incredible feeling getting applauded on every green, every tee box. I’m out there giving my best, trying to do my best for everyone.”
He three-putted the 14th, saved par on the next three holes with his deft touch around the greens, and closed with a bogey to fall back into a tie with Holmes, who played earlier in the day and was the first to post at 8-under 134.
Holmes won the Genesis Open in February for the fifth victory of his PGA Tour career, then failed to make the cut in eight of his next 12 tournaments as he battled a two-way miss off the tee and felt so bad he thought he would never recover. He did enough in Detroit three weeks ago to regain some confidence, though, and he has been in a groove at Portrush.
“You can have that great round and that day where everything goes right. But it’s nice to get two rounds in a row,” the 37-year-old Kentucky native said. “It shows a little consistency. And two days in a row I’ve hit the ball really well and putted well.”
Westwood is 46 and can make a case as the best active golfer without a major considering his status — a former No. 1 in the World Golf Ranking and on the European Tour — and the number of near misses from the British Open to the U.S. Open to the Masters.
Is it too late? Westwood wasn’t willing to look ahead.
“There’s too much ground to cover before Sunday night,” he said. “There’s a long way to go in this tournament. I’ve never felt under that much pressure, to be honest. You lads write about it. I’ve always gone out and done my best. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
Koepka, who has won three of the last six majors, is in the mix for another. For the 16th time in his past 17 rounds at the majors, he ended a round in the top 10, though he wasn’t happy with much about his day, calling it “a little bit disappointing,” perhaps because he wasn’t able to go lower than his 69 despite playing in dry weather and only a mild wind.
“But at the same time, I’m close enough where I play a good weekend, I’ll be in good shape,” he said.
Spieth hasn’t quite figured out how to get the ball in play more often — too many bunkers on Thursday, too much high grass on Friday. The putter is not a problem, though, and it carried him to a collection of mid-range birdie and par putts for a 67.
“I’m in contention. I feel good,” Spieth said, winless since his British Open title two years ago at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. “I feel like if I can continue to improve each day, hit the ball better tomorrow than I did today, and better on Sunday than Saturday, then I should have a chance with how I feel on and around the greens.”
Woods began this major championship season as the Masters champion but ended it as a mystery. He missed the cut in two of the next three majors and never seemed fully fit or engaged at Royal Portrush. He was 3 under for his round through 11 holes with hopes of making it to the weekend, but he had no more birdies and finished with two bogeys for a 70 to miss by five shots.
“I’m going to have my hot weeks. I’m going to be there in contention with a chance to win, and I will win tournaments,” Woods said, facing the reality of a 43-year-old who has gone through eight surgeries on his knee and back. “But there are times when I’m just not going to be there.”
Graeme McDowell, born and raised in Portrush, finished with four straight pars for a 70 to make the cut on the number.