Rory McIlroy sad to miss first ever Open cut

Rory McIlroy left The Open “disappointed but with a clearer picture of what he needs to work on” after slumping to a horror-show at Muirfield and missing the cut on +12.

McIlroy was never at the Open races, clearly uneasy and unhappy with his golf throughout his appearance in East Lothian and giving further indication his world is not a happy one at present.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever missed an Open cut, so it’s very disappointing. I ended up playing the last 11 holes under par but it didn’t really happen for me,” he admitted.

“I don’t want to say I wasn’t sharp, but I took myself off for a few weeks and just hit balls and tried to figure out what was maybe not right technically. And I think I need to sort of forget about that and just go and play golf, try to shoot scores and be on the golf course.”

McIlroy is hoping he can fix his form by the time he defends his US PGA title, at Oak Hill, next month.

“I’ve got a nice run of events coming up, six events in the next eight weeks, so I’m looking forward to playing golf and playing tournaments and getting into a run of events and competitive play.

“I don’t know if I can single out one thing or reason why I am struggling with my game. I’m just trying to play my way out of it, but that’s something I haven’t really done this year.”