Rory McIlroy did not go down quietly.
Rory didn’t go through the motions on Friday at Royal Portrush. He gave it all he had in attempt to recover from the Thursday disaster that was an opening 79 at the 148th Open Championship.
McIlroy let it all out. He put seven birdies on his card but came up a shot short. His 65 got him to two-under par, a stroke short of the cut-line.
“What I’m really going to rue is that finish yesterday,” McIlroy said after his amazing effort, referring to the three putts from three feet at the 16th and the triple-bogey seven at the 18th.
“It was amazing, sort of emotional,” Rory said of his play on day two. “I get a lot of support everywhere I go but here, all those people are here for me. I played a really solid round of golf, but it wasn’t enough. I wish the ending for me would have come differently.”
The crowd pulled hard for Rory all day. He was three-over for the tournament then holed a nice birdie putt at the par three 16th and it brought a huge roar from the crowd. At 17 his drive found the rough and he couldn’t get it close enough to make birdie there.
At the 18th he found the fairway but his hopes of making birdie ended when he pulled his second and it rolled off the green, leaving him a difficult chip for the birdie he needed. He gave it a shot but it was a longshot at best. He made a four-footer for par, a 65 and a two-over total for the two days.
“My good buddy Shane (Lowry) is up there and I can’t wait to watch him play the weekend,” McIlroy said of his long-time friend from the Republic of Ireland. “I want to see if he can get his hands on the Claret Jug!”
