Early PGA exit: Back to the drawing board for McIlroy

Former world number one fails to make cut at championship for the first time

SPRINGFIELD: Rory McIlroy ended a “disappointing” year at the majors by missing the cut at the PGA Championship for the first time in his career, undone by nagging putting woes.

McIlroy fired a one-under par 69 in the second round of the year’s final major tournament at Baltusrol, but a birdie-less 74 in the next round proved too much to overcome and he finished one shot beyond the cut line.

“I’ve hit the ball really well this week and I’m walking away not playing the weekend,” said McIlroy. “It’s really disheartening. I need to go back to the drawing board and see where we go from here.”



The 27-year-old from Northern Ireland has won four major titles, including the 2012 and 2014 PGA Championships, but has not won a major in two years. He also missed the cut at the US Open but shared fifth two weeks ago at the British Open and 10th at the Masters, the lone major title he needs to complete a career grand slam.

Fourth-ranked McIlroy closed with a bogey at the par-5 18th to miss the weekend, pushing for a birdie to be sure of the weekend with the cut line in flux.



“I thought I needed to make four, so that’s what I was trying to do,” said McIlroy. “I think if you had to give anyone else in this field my tee shots this week, they would have been up near the top of the leaderboard. It just shows you how bad I was around the greens.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2016.

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