Four birdies in his last six holes was not enough for Rory McIlroy to make the cut as he joined Dustin Johnson and Jason Day on the sidelines at the US Open.
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McIlroy was always going to need something special to make the weekend after his 78 on Thursday, and despite his late streak the Northern Irishman could only manage a 71 on Friday for a 36 hole total of +5.
Day was playing the same group as McIlroy and Justin Rose (who also missed the cut) and finished alongside the world number two on +5 after a 75 on Friday.
The world number one, Johnson, joined his colleagues later after a one-over 73 took his tally to +4 to make it the first time that the world’s leading trio have all failed to make the weekend since world rankings were launched in 1986.
‘If you look at the golf course and you even talk to me, Jason or Rory, this course sets up perfect for us,’ Johnson said as he mounted a weak defence of the title he won at Oakmont last year. ‘But as we all know, this game’s all about putting. So it’s pretty simple – I just didn’t get it in the hole fast enough.’
‘I couldn’t possibly shoot any higher than I did,’ said Johnson, who will not play again until the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. ‘I just struggled on the greens. It’s simple.’
Day put his struggles down to trying to do too much after being so far behind Fowler after Thursday.
‘When you see someone that shoots 7-under [which Rickie Fowler did Thursday] and the guys in the morning tear up the golf course, I’ve got to try to be a little bit aggressive,’ Day said. ‘But then again, you sit there and it’s the US Open. Things can turn pretty bad – which they did for me.’
And he didn’t like the wide fairways either.
‘I think when you’re trying to aim at a target usually at a normal golf course, with normal-width fairways, there’s some pressure into hitting the fairway because it is a lot narrower than we have out here,’ Day said. ‘I think with everything so large, your target is larger and your misses get even more extreme.
‘Being out of position off the tee does not help. The execution was not there.’
Other stars to miss the cut, include Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott, Jon Rahm, Thomas Pieters, Charl Schwartzel and Alex Noren.
At the right side of the leaderboard, English duo Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood were joined by Americans Brooks Koepka and Brian Harman at the top on -7. Jamie Lovemark, first round leader Rickie Fowler and J.B. Holmes are one behind, with eight players within two shots of the lead.
Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
