TROON, Scotland — Rory McIlroy has not won a major championship in 11 years, including 38 since his last win in 2014.
That’s because McIlroy missed the cut at the British Open and finished a surprisingly disappointing 11 over par over two days.
McIlroy made a triple bogey on the par-5 fourth hole to fall to 6-over par after six holes, ending any chance of a comeback from a 7-over 78 on the opening day early on.
“Obviously it was a terrible start,” McIlroy said. “As soon as I shot eight on the fourth hole, that was it. I was 22 holes into the tournament and wondering where I was going to go for my vacation next week. That was it.”
“Looking back at the two majors where I didn’t play my best, here and at the Masters, I lost ground on the Friday at Augusta and then the last two days here.
Robert McIntyre, fresh off his Scottish Open win, was sure to be one of the players to watch going into the Open.
He was in good position to start the day at 1-over par.
Then he collapsed early in the second round, going eight-over par and making two triple bogeys through the first four holes.
But MacIntyre played the final 14 holes in four under par to qualify at five over par.
“It was a disaster,” McIntyre said of the start. “When we got eight points [No.] I was so overwhelmed by the fourth hole. I didn’t think I was going to make it through the weekend. After four holes, I was edging closer to 90.
“I take a lot of pride in myself. I had a bad attitude. I could see I was getting angrier and angrier. My golf game was getting away from me. I was hitting stupid shots, terrible shots.
“Once I calmed down, at one point I was simply thinking, ‘How can I go under 90?’ but I was actually aiming for under 80.”
McIntyre said that if the same thing had happened a year ago, “it would have been over by now. I would have already been in my car and on the road. I didn’t start well, but I finished well. I’m proud of the way I fought to get the cut, especially after last week.”
If you think qualifying for the British Open doesn’t mean much to a millionaire golfer, just look at Max Homa’s reaction on Friday night when he sank a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to reach six-over par, the cut line for the weekend’s play.
It was pure and priceless.
“I’m just proud of myself,” Homa said. “This is my favorite tournament in the world, so to have the possibility to play two more days…it feels like I’m out of my body. I never thought I’d be screaming like I won a golf tournament. I just feel really good. I felt like I competed all day.”
Homa had a triple bogey on the 12th hole, but birdied the 16th and 18th holes to take the win that round.
Scottie Scheffler, ranked number one in the world, is at two under par, five strokes behind the leader.
Scheffler, who has six wins this season, has come from behind to win six of his 11 stroke play victories on the PGA Tour after 36 holes.
This is his third time in four British Open appearances and his third time finishing in the top 10 after 36 holes.
He is trying to become the first player since Brooks Koepka (2018 U.S. Open, 2018 PGA Championship) to win multiple major championships in the same year.
The last time an American player won all four major tournaments in a single year was in 1982 (Craig Stadler – Masters Tournament, Tom Watson – U.S. Open, British Open, Raymond Floyd – PGA Championship).
The top 10 players on the U.S. Open leaderboard are collectively at 43-over-par heading into the weekend.
Bryson DeChambeau (9 over), Rory McIlroy (11 over), Tony Finau (10 over), Patrick Cantlay (1 under), Mathieu Pavon (2 over), Hideki Matsuyama (5 over), Sam Burns (3 over), Davis Thompson (5 over), Corey Conners (1 under)
Of the LIV Golf players who competed in the Open, nine made the cut at six over par.
Dean Burmester had the best week at two under par, followed by Joaquin Niemann at even, Dustin Johnson, Koepka and Jon Rahm at one over.
Adrian Melonk was three over par, as was Rory Canter.
Phil Mickelson and Andy Ogletree were both five over par.
LIV players who failed to make the cut included Abraham Ansell (6 over), Henrik Stenson (8 over), Louis Oosthuizen (8 over), DeChambeau (9 over), Cam Smith (12 over), David Puig (14 over), John Catlin (5 over) and Tyrrell Hatton (8 over).
