McIlroy’s late rally can’t save him from early exit

THERE was no miracle reprieve for Rory McIlroy on day two of the US Open — although at least he did not go quietly, with four birdies in his last five holes. Most of the damage had been done on Thursday, with a nightmarish 78. He added a second-round 71, which could not disguise the blunt fact he had crashed out of America’s national championship at the halfway stage for the second successive year. The cull of the world’s top players — on the agenda following their collective failure in the first round — duly began with the Northern Irishman, followed shortly by his playing partner Jason Day, who shot 74 to follow his opening 79. McIlroy’s fate last year was in doubt up to the moment he made a mess of the final hole. This year he was playing simply for pride long before the end and showed plenty of that over the finishing stretch. But the man who had said fatefully in the build-up that anyone unable to hit the generous fairways ought to pack their bags and go home has now done just that. At least yesterday he hit a lot more fairways than the lamentable five he managed on Thursday — the lowest of anyone in the entire, 156-man field. The good news is the rib problems that have caused him to miss so much tournament play this year withstood all the punishment of playing continually out of the rough. McIlroy is the first to recognise that what he is most in need of now is a regular diet of tournament play. It is the reason he has added the Travellers Championship on the PGA Tour next week and the Scottish Open on the European Tour next month. All told, he will play in six events over the next eight weeks as he seeks to get back on track.