Rory McIlroy says his failure to master the blustery conditions over the opening two rounds at Royal Troon led to his early exit from this year’s Open Championship.
McIlroy struggled to an opening 78 at the Scottish links course on Thursday to leave him with an uphill struggle to make the cut.
The world number two’s hopes of making the weekend were then all but extinguished when he dropped six shots over a four-hole stretch between the third and the sixth on Friday, before rallying to post a 75 to end 11 over.
His early horror show included a triple-bogey eight at the fourth as high winds raged around the south Ayrshire course.
“I didn’t adapt well at all on Thursday to the left-right wind on the back nine, and this afternoon [Friday] going out in that gusty wind on the front, it got the better of me and I felt pretty uncomfortable over a few shots,” said McIlroy.
“That four-hole stretch to start off was what cost me. I got off to the worst possible start being six over through six, but then played the last 12 holes pretty well, bogey-free.”
In addition to dropping three shots at the fourth, McIlroy’s horrific start also included bogeys at the third, fifth and sixth holes.
As the strength of the winds began to abate, the four-time major winner posted a series of pars, followed by birdies at 14 and 16 on the inward nine.
“When the wind died down a bit and it became at least manageable for me I started to play better, I hit some good shots. I played the last 12 in a couple under par and felt more comfortable over my shots.
“When the wind gets that strong and you haven’t played in wind like that for quite a while sometimes it’s just hard to adapt.
“I’ll look back at the two majors where I didn’t play my best [this year], both here and the Masters. The wind got the better of me on the Friday at Augusta and the wind got the better of me the last two days here.”