Rory McIlroy saw his frustrations boil over during the second round of the US Open, as the Northern Irishman threw a club in anger and broke a tee box at Oakmont
Rory McIlroy was spotted venting his frustration by hurling his club at the US Open before smashing up a tee box marker – clearly dissatisfied with his play. Having recently completed the career Grand Slam with a Masters victory in April, McIlroy entered this week aiming for a sixth major title and his second US Open, having narrowly lost to Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst No. 2 last year.
However, it’s been a less than perfect start for the Northern Irishman, who posted a four-over-par 74 in the first round. Needing a strong comeback on day two, his second round began disastrously with two double bogeys in his first three holes.
As the cut line started to slip away, McIlroy finally managed a much-needed birdie at the par-four ninth, undoubtedly hoping for more as he made the turn. A par followed at the 10th, but his temper flared just two holes later.
After a brilliant tee shot down the middle of the fairway of the 12th, McIlroy aimed to reach the par-five in two, but a wayward second shot sent his ball into the thick rough to the left of the hole. Clearly displeased, the world No. 2 angrily threw his club, reports the Mirror US.
Regaining his composure, he then scored a birdie at the 15th to get within reach of the weekend, but his Friday was far from over. Standing on the achievable par-four 17th, McIlroy pulled his shot left and vented his frustrations on the tee box, breaking it with his club.
McIlroy managed to scrape a par after finessing a chip out of the bunker and following up with two putts, keeping him on the cusp of the cut line with just one hole left. As the cut hovered around seven-over, McIlroy clinched his spot in the weekend’s line-up with a birdie on the 18th, nudging him to six-over for the tournament and sat at T45 alongside 12 others headed into moving day.
It’s been another challenging week at the office for McIlroy, seemingly feeling the aftershocks of his Masters triumph. His victory at Augusta National was nothing short of legendary, making him only the sixth golfer to win all four majors. Post-Masters, McIlroy secured a tie for seventh at the Truist Championship but found himself tied-47th at the PGA Championship.
Sharpening his skills for the US Open, McIlroy teed off at last week’s RBC Canadian Open, yet disappointingly exited early after two gruelling rounds. His subsequent performance at Oakmont continues to confound, particularly given his usual flair on the big stage.
Reflecting on his post-Masters mindset earlier this week, McIlroy said: “I think it’s trying to have a little bit of amnesia and forget about what happened six weeks ago. Then just trying to find the motivation to go back out there and work as hard as I’ve been working.
“I worked incredibly hard on my game from October last year all the way up until April this year. It was nice to sort of see the fruits of my labour come to fruition and have everything happen.
“But at the same time, you have to enjoy that. You have to enjoy what you’ve just accomplished. I certainly feel like I’m still doing that and I will continue to do that.
“At some point, you have to realise that there’s a little bit more golf left to play this season, here, Portrush, Ryder Cup, so those are obviously the three big things that I’m sort of looking at for the rest of the year.
“But I think weeks like Quail Hollow or even weeks like last week, it makes it easier to reset in some way, to be like, okay, I sort of need to get my stuff together here and get back to the process and sort of what I’d been doing for that seven months from October last year until April this year.”