Rory McIlroy didn’t have his best performance on the front nine at Bay Hill on Sunday.
That was evident early on, with McIlroy missing the green on his approach shots on the first and second holes.
He managed the ups and downs on both occasions, staying at 5 under par for the championship through two innings. However, his struggles began to affect his score on the par-4 third hole.
McIlroy hit his second shot into the right rough next to the putting surface and missed the green again. He then hit a chip shot 12 feet from the hole, but missed the comeback with a par, dropping his first shot of the day.
Another puzzling bogey occurred on the par-5 fourth, one of the easiest holes on the course. McIlroy’s drive came to rest on the bank of a small river inside the penalty area, forcing him into an awkward position and chipping out wide.
Two holes later, on the tricky par-5 6th that curves around a lake, McIlroy duck-hooked his second shot into the water.
This resulted in a double bogey at seven, and McIlroy was suddenly 4 over after six holes, dropping 24 places on the leaderboard.
His slide continued two holes later on the difficult par-4 8th.
McIlroy hit the fairway and placed his second shot to the left of the green. The green was protected by a large pond in front of him. McIlroy cleared the water but missed his chip shot, leaving his third shot 18 feet short of the pin.
As a result, he hit another bogey and fell to even par for the tournament.
A big reason McIlroy has struggled in the final rounds so far is his approach shot. He lost more than four strokes on Sunday’s approach and was ranked 57th. On top of that, McIlroy only hit two out of the nine greens required on the opening ninth.
No wonder he carded a 5-over 41 in the opening nine and was completely out of contention at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
