Munoz extends lead to 3 at Greenbrier Classic

Struggling McIlroy misses the cut again at Irish Open

Rory McIlroy missed the cut at the Irish Open for the fourth time in five years, leading the four-time major winner to express concerns on Friday about parts of his game ahead of the British Open. McIlroy shot 1-over 73 in his second round over the links at Portstewart and was 1 over for the tournament, which he is hosting to benefit his foundation. He was four strokes below the cut mark and 14 strokes off the joint leaders, Benjamin Hebert and Daniel Im. "My short game is not sharp enough and I'm making silly mistakes," said McIlroy, who refused to blame his performance on the fact he was busy at the start of the week because he was hosting the event. "I'm not being very proficient with my scoring and making it difficult for myself." McIlroy also missed the cut at the U.S. Open last month and hasn't had a victory so far in 2017, during which he has had two spells out because of a rib injury. He will play one more event — the Scottish Open at Dundonald Links next week — before the British Open, which starts on July 20 at Royal Birkdale. The only time he made the cut at the Irish Open since 2012 was last year, when he won. He finished this year's event by slamming his driver onto a tee marker following a poor drive on the seventh, his 16th hole of the day, before making double-bogey on the next hole. "It's disappointing because I felt like I was playing well coming into the week and I need to do some practice over the weekend and get ready for next week," McIlroy said. "Even being busy on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I should be shooting two scores in the 60s with the conditions the way they were." Jon Rahm, playing in the same group as McIlroy, shot 67 to be alone in third place, a stroke off the lead held by the pair that also topped the leaderboard after the first round. Hebert and Im both shot 67 in their second rounds. PGA Tour rookie Sebastian Munoz has found a comfortable routine at The Greenbrier Classic — go play golf, then watch a movie at night. After catching “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” following an opening-round 61, Munoz kept it going, shooting a 3-under 67 for a three-stroke lead over Ben Martin and Hudson Swafford heading into the weekend on the Old White TPC. On Friday night, his plans were the same. “I'm here with one of my best buddies, so we're just going to hang out and watch a movie and be ready for tomorrow,” Munoz said. Munoz has been in this situation before. At the St. Jude Classic last month, Munoz was tied for the lead through 36 holed, but he played the final two rounds in 11 over and finished tied for 60th. “I feel like Memphis taught me that maybe I was caring too much, trying to hit too many perfect shots all the time,” Munoz said. “(I'll) just take those past experiences and use them this week.” The 24-year-old Colombian played his college golf at North Texas and said he got a wake-up call when his coach threatened to take away his scholarship for his senior year. Then, former college teammate Carlos Ortiz won three times in his first season on the Web.com Tour in 2014. “I talked to him and was like, ‘Hey, man, I know you're good, but come on. Like, I can get you sometimes,'” Munoz said. “So that really helped me kind of push through and realize I was good as well.”