Rory McIlroy shocked his many followers nose-diving down the leader board with a horror 78 on day two of the $US 6.2m Jack Nicklaus hosted Memorial.
After a blistering opening round of 63 McIlroy had the opportunity to close out the tournament but instead he tumbled down from his lofty three shot leading cushion and into a share of 20th place on three under par.
Included in McIlroy’s second round that he commenced from the 10th of the Muirfield Village course was a bogey at 10, a 12th hole biride but then three double bogeys from 13th hole.
Rory McIlroy posts a shock 78 on day two of the 2014 Memorial.
McIlroy three-putted the 13th from 73 feet, then hit his 126-yard approach shot into the water at the 14th. He nearly reached the par-5 15th in two shots but made double-bogey after he double-hit a chip shot.
He made the turn in 7-over 43, then shot 1-under 35 on his back nine for a 78.
Thursday’s opening 63 had been his equal lowest-ever starting round on the PGA Tour and came just four days after capturing the European Tour’s flagship BMW PGA Championship.
Now delving into the PGA records books McIlroy’s 78 is his third highest second round after posting an 80 in very windswept conditions on day two of the 2010 Open Championship and a 79 he shot on day two of the 2011 Memorial.
“I hit a decent drive on 10 (his first hole), was just in the rough, couldn’t get to the green, made bogey there. And then I just kept missing fairways and making it tough for myself. And obviously that little three-hole stretch — 13, 14, 15 — didn’t help.
“If you take those three holes out of it, then it wouldn’t actually have been that bad a day.
“These little runs I’m getting on where it gets away from me, I was able to avoid that last week. Not so much this week.”
This was the fourth straight event on the PGA Tour that McIlroy had a 9-hole score of at least 40. All occurred during the second round — at the Masters, Wells Fargo Championship and The Players Championship. In each tournament, he rallied to finish among the top 10.
