When Rory McIlroy prematurely walked in his final birdie of the day on Thursday evening, the talk of the golf world was, ‘Could this be the week?’
After all, McIlroy has opened a major with a bogey-free round three times before, and he has gone on to win each of those times. He did so again at Pinehurst No. 2 on Thursday, firing a clean, 5-under 65 to share the lead with Patrick Cantlay through 18 holes.
But he could not convert any opportunities a day later, when he carded a disappointing 2-over 72. His poor Friday round dropped him back to 3-under for the championship.
“Obviously not quite as well as [Thursday], but I feel like the golf course plays a little more difficult, even though we were off in the morning,” McIlroy explained afterward.
“Some of the hole locations were definitely a little tougher. Sort of had to have your wits about you.”
McIlroy lost his wits for a brief moment on the par-3 17th, when he putted his birdie attempt off the front of the green. That brought a double-bogey into play, as his third shot had to climb the steep false front that guards the front of the green. But instead of making a bigger mess of things, McIlroy chipped in for a wild par.
“Overall, I felt like I did a pretty good job of keeping some of the mistakes off the scorecard,” McIlroy opined.
“I wish I had converted a couple more chances. Hit the ball pretty well. I think I only missed one fairway. So, I had plenty of opportunities. Yeah, I wasn’t quite as good with the putter today. Still, overall, we are in a great position going into the weekend.”
McIlroy lost 2.5 strokes on the greens on Friday as he failed to convert multiple looks at birdie. He could not get into a rhythm with his putter, unlike Thursday, when he had an above-average day on the greens.
That trend started early and often: McIlroy missed an 11-footer for birdie at 10, and then missed a par-putt from five feet on 11. Three holes later, McIlroy missed another birdie attempt from 11 feet, increasing his frustrations. He then bogeyed the par-3 15th. Another missed birdie putt followed at the 1st, this time from 10 feet.
At least he salvaged these misses with a birdie at the par-4 3rd, his first of the day. But that proved to be his last one, too.
“I was 2-over pretty early. My goal going into that second nine was if I could get it back to even for the day, I would have been pretty happy,” McIlroy added.
“Got that birdie on 3. I was trying to claw one back there. Ultima,tely I gave one back again.”
McIlroy closed his round with a bogey at the par-3 9th and walked off with his head hung low. But he hit the ball well from tee to green again on Friday. He even led the field in strokes gained off the tee.
Yet, his putter failed him the most, and if he wants to break his decade-long major drought and win the U.S. Open, he will need his flat stick to show up—like it did on Thursday.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.