WATCH: Rory McIlroy gets hit in the face with club, sums up his Open Championship woes
Rory McIlroy played two days at Royal Troon and wasn't able to get through the cutline. The cutline was +6 after round two and McIlroy’s score stood at +11. As if that wasn't enough embarrassment for the Northern Irishman, he had a dodgy incident on the course as he tried a little trick.
During round two, as McIlroy was walking down the 16th green, he tried to flip the club but it struck his face instead. Immediately after that, McIlroy appeared unbothered by the incident and picked up his club.
The moment didn't go unnoticed and was shared on Twitter (formerly X) with a caption that read:
“I love you @McIlroyRory but that was funny hahahahaha”
McIlroy had a subpar performance at the Open Championship. On day one, McIlroy scored a bogey on the first hole and a birdie on the 3rd. He then double bogeyed the 8th hole followed by a bogey on the 10th. He had another double bogey on the 11th and two more bogeys after that. His score after the round stood at 7-over 78.
In the second round, Rory had three bogeys on the front nine accompanied by a double bogey on the fourth. His score after the second round was at 4-over 75. This was McIlroy's last chance this year to end his ten-year Major drought. His last Major wins came in 2014, at the PGA Championship and the Open Championship.
Since 2014 the Irishman has come close to a Major title several times, like T3s at the 2009 PGA Championship, 2010 Open Championship, 2010 PGA Championship, and 2022 Open Championship. He was also tied for 2nd at the 2018 Open Championship, the 2023 US Open, and the 2024 US Open. At the 2024 US Open, he lost the trophy by one stroke.
Rory McIlroy explains his struggles with the disruptive weather at Royal Troon
The weather conditions at the Open Championship have given a tough time to golfers on the course and Rory McIlroy's experience was no different. He explained how his strategies failed to work as planned on the course because of the uncertain winds.
“You have a strategy that you think is going to help you, but when you get a wind you haven't played in, you start to think about hitting a few clubs that you haven't hit in practice. I just didn't adapt well enough to the conditions,” McIlroy told the Mirror.
He continued, “Your misses get punished a lot more this week than last week... whether you miss it in a fairway bunker or even the rough. The rough... the balls that I hit in the rough today, the lies were pretty nasty… It's one of the worst rounds I think I've had this year in terms of how I've hit the ball.”
McIlroy struggled through the second round and he would have been left feeling quite disappointed as his last hopes of winning a Major this year were dashed after he failed to make the cutline.