Rory McIlroy’s cut record snapped as he misses out on weekend for first time since Royal Portrush at Riviera – Belfast Telegraph

Rory McIlroy must go back to the drawing board to get ready for next week's World Golf Championship after missing his first cut since the 2019 Open in The Genesis Invitational at Riviera.

attling an ice-cold putter (33 putts) and a two-way miss, the World No.7 carded a five-over 76 - his worst round on the PGA Tour since the same score in the second round of last year's US Open to finish seven shots outside the projected cut mark on seven-over par.

The four-time Major champion hadn't missed a cut since he shot rounds of 79 and 65 to miss out by a shot at Royal Portrush 19 months ago - ending a 30-event streak that was, admittedly, 117 events shy of Tiger Woods' record of 142.

But he'll be hoping to rebound strongly as he did after his last failure on the Dunluce links which heralded the start of a red-hot run that brought him three wins, plus another 14 top-10 finishes and a second FedEx Cup title.

With less than seven weeks to go to the Masters, this was a glaring failure on a course that's a serious barometer of a player's preparedness for Major championship golf.

And having gone 15 months without a win, he will be keener than ever to make a statement when he joins Shane Lowry in the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession in Florida next week.

He started the day tied for 85th after opening with a two-over 73, but while there was little wind for his 7.13 am tee-time, he failed Riviera's chess-like examination.

After failing to birdie the short par-four 10th or the par-five 11th, he was facing an uphill task when he three-putted the 12th from 65 feet.

Clearly struggling with his swing, he hit back by holing a 20 footer for a birdie at the next but handed that shot straight back when he took three to get down from the front edge of the par-three 14th.

There was still time to get back to level par, but his agent was likely telling the pilot to warm up the engines on his jet when he short-sided himself at the 17th and made a bogey six, then three-putted from the fringe at the 18th to go out in three-over 39.

An eagle three at the 493-yard, par-five first could have changed his fortunes, but he missed an eight-footer for a birdie there, then reeled off a series of pars before he tangled with the barranca at the eighth and ran up a double-bogey six.

Bidding for his maiden win, overnight leader Sam Burns (24) took up where he left off following his sensational opening 64, carding a bogey-free, five-under-par 66 to lead by five strokes from Tyler McCumber and Jason Kokrak on 12-under par - the joint lowest 36-hole aggregate in the event's history.

"I think just having patience out there," Burns said when asked the key to his impressive play. "I didn't try to force anything."

Burns' thoughts were echoed by Jordan Spieth, who continued his resurgence in form when he shot a second successive 68 to share fourth place with Max Homa, who shot 70, on six-under.

"It's one of those rare weeks where you just can't get away with firing at flagsticks," Spieth said. "Precision is so key, but being smart and recognising when even being precise still won't work out."

"It's such a different experience from what we normally have on Tour where you're used to 20 to 25 under winning, where you get away with short-siding yourself because guys' short games are so good, but here it just doesn't happen.

"I said yesterday I'd take four rounds of three-under, and as the weekend comes around and the greens start to firm up, and conditions get tougher, I think six-under on the weekend will be a great score."

European Ryder Cup captain Harrington added a five-over 76 to his opening with a 75 to miss the cut on nine-over, having spent 10 days in self-isolation following a positive COVID-19 test.

Belfast Telegraph

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Rory McIlroy's cut record snapped as he misses out on weekend for first time since Royal Portrush at Riviera - Belfast Telegraph