Rory McIlroy’s bid for a profession Grand Slam formally got here to an finish for an additional yr on Saturday when the Northern Irishman did not make the Masters lower.
Needing solely the Green Jacket to finish a set of all 4 main titles, McIlroy’s destiny was just about sealed on Friday when he signed for a second spherical five-over 77 to go away him at five-over for the event.
One of the pre-tournament favourites, McIlroy’s disappointment dragged on into Saturday as 39 gamers returned to finish their weather-hit rounds the place the lower line was set at three over.
The world quantity two used a late surge to complete runner-up finally yr’s Masters however has now missed the lower in two of his final three visits to Augusta National. The 33-year-old is a four-time main champion, however it’s practically 9 years since his win on the 2014 Open left him needing solely a Masters victory to affix Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods as the one gamers to attain the profession Grand Slam.
One of the PGA Tour’s most vocal supporters of their feud with LIV Golf, McIlroy was joined on the exit by six members of the breakaway circuit. Major winners Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and Bubba Watson together with Jason Kokrak all missed the lower. Kevin Na and Louis Oosthuizen withdrew as a consequence of sickness and harm respectively.
Ten members of the Saudi-backed sequence did attain the weekend led by Brooks Koepka, who sits two pictures clear atop the leaderboard heading into the third spherical.
Tiger Woods made the lower, however by the pores and skin of his enamel when good good friend Justin Thomas bogeyed the seventeenth shifting the lower line to a few over.
Five-time champion Woods, strolling the hilly course on his rebuilt leg, bogeyed the closing gap and completed proper on the lower line, tying Gary Player and Fred Couples for many consecutive cuts made on the Masters (23).
“I’ve always loved this golf course, and I love playing this event,” mentioned Woods on the finish of his spherical earlier than the lower line had been set. “I wish I get a chance to play two more rounds.”
Couples additionally grew to become the oldest participant in Masters historical past to make the lower when the 63-year-old returned a second spherical two-over 74 for a one-over whole.