Rory McIlroy endured another tough day in his golf career after missing the cut at The Open at Royal Troon. As if it wasn't bad enough that McIlroy threw away his chance to win the US Open at Pinehurst and was now enduring a grim second round at The Open, things didn't improve after he struck himself in the face with his own club on Friday.
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The Northern Irishman was less than impressed with his shot at the 17th as he missed the green and reacted with disbelief at his dip in form. He then balanced his club in his hand, preparing to swing it over his head, only to strike himself in the face with the handle.
The incident caused McIlroy to lower his head in embarrassment, before his caddie swiftly came along and retrieved his equipment and the pair continued on their way down the South Ayrshire course.
But his luck didn't improve as the 35-year-old finished the day on a disappointing note. The four-time Major winner ended up 11-over-par at Royal Troon to miss the cut at The 152nd Open Championship in 126th place.
He completed a round of 79 on Thursday to leave himself seven-over par after managing only a single birdie. That meant he would spend day two fighting to avoid elimination and he didn't make a sizeable improvement.
McIlroy's hopes of extending the weekend soon dissipated early into his second round with a run of bogey, double bogey and then back-to-back bogeys between the third and sixth holes.
He regained some composure with a pair of birdies on the back nine, but the damage was already done on the leaderboard.
McIlroy, who said he will be cheering on his Paris Olympics team-mate Shane Lowry to win the trophy, lamented his failure to go further into the weekend in Scotland.
"I've had 14 holes to deal with everything I've been feeling. After the eight on four I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be here for the weekend," McIlroy told Sky Sports Golf.
"That four-hole stretch at the start of the round was unfortunate in the worst of the wind. The wind died down a little bit for us on the back nine and it was a lot more manageable for me.
"Over the course of the two days, the conditions got the better of me. I didn't adapt to the strong wind. Especially on the back nine yesterday. And today going out with how strong and gusty it was.
"That was the story of the week. Even at Augusta I felt like the conditions on the Friday afternoon got the better of me. It was super windy. Here again. The scoring was super low at the PGA. I just couldn't keep up with Xander [Schauffele] and Bryson [DeChambeau] and then obviously the US Open was the big one.
"I had such a great opportunity and let it slip through my fingers. I just have to remind myself that I am close. You just have to keep giving yourself chances."
