An emotional Rory McIlroy was left to rue a horrendous opening round as a gallant second-day comeback fell short and he missed the cut by one at Royal Portrush.
Thursday's 79 proved too tall a task to clawback but boy, did he try. He shot 65 to come just short of the weekend's proceedings.
"Part of me is very disappointed not to be here for the weekend..." said the disheartened golfer.
The support I got was incredible. You could see on the back nine, if I’d got that momentum a little bit yesterday and I went with it today, that was what I was planning to do all week.
But yesterday gave me a big mountain to climb. I dug in there, I tried my best, and I showed resilience. It’s going to hurt for a little bit. But I guess the good thing about golf is that I’ve got a tournament in Memphis next week, so I’ll turn my attention to that.
This has been a week that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time and I didn’t play my part. But everyone in Northern Ireland who came out to watch me, they definitely played theirs.
He went on to wish championship chasing Shane Lowry the best of luck.
"I can’t wait to watch Shane Lowry over the weekend. He’ll get the support I got today, and hopefully, he’ll will them on. I’d love nothing more than to see Shane get his name on that Claret Jug."
"This was a week that I'd been looking forward to for a long time." ?
An emotional Rory McIlroy speaks to Sky Sports after seemingly missing the cut at #TheOpen, despite shooting a second-round 65 at Royal Portrush. ⛳
Watch The Open Verdict live on Sky Sports The Open now! pic.twitter.com/xfszO4Do7h
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) July 19, 2019
