Heading into this week's Open Championship at Portrush, much of the focus was on Rory McIlroy. While the 30-year old is well used to being under pressure heading into majors, this was something different.
With this being the first time the event has been held on the island of Ireland in 68 years, McIlroy was billed as the best hope for some home success. He also has previous form in Portrush, having smashed the course record as a 16-year old.
He's been in excellent form for much of 2019, but that has yet to translate into major success. It looks like that wait will now continue.
McIlroy got off to the worst possible start in his opening round, carding a quadruple bogey eight on the first hole.
While he would manage to steady the ship somewhat from that point, his effort on the 16th hole cancelled out much of his good work.
Having had a short four-foot putt for par, he would somehow manage to three-putt. The second putt in particular is an absolute shocker.
You wouldn't see it down the local pitch & putt 😂https://t.co/2t8KyMv9ex
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) July 18, 2019
Somehow, things would only get worse for him from here.
While he managed a par on the 17th, disaster struck once again on the final hole. This time he would shoot an eight on the par five, finishing off his round with a triple bogey to end on +8.
That scores places him fourth from bottom on the leaderboard at the time of writing.
Start with 4️⃣ over
Finish with 3️⃣ over
McIlroy's nightmare round is finally over! 😱
He racks up a triple-bogey seven at the 18th to finish with an eight-over 79.
📺 Watch all four days of #TheOpen live on Sky Sports The Open or follow it here: https://t.co/PiRMXkYPcE pic.twitter.com/7dIFM4lhLX— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) July 18, 2019
He will have a huge battle to even make the cut now, with a low score required in Friday's round to get through to the weekend. Considering how he played this afternoon, that seems incredibly unlikely.
Failing to make it to the weekend in what many have labelled as a home tournament would be a major embarrassment to the player, who has not won a major since 2014.
