Canadian Open: Rory McIlroy misses cut at Canadian Open after dismal second round

Rory McIlroy endured a day to forget as he missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open after shooting a dismal second-round 78 on Friday.

The Masters champion carded a quadruple bogey, a double and four other bogeys in an eight-over-par round that left him languishing 21 shots behind halfway leader Cameron Champ, who finished on 12 under.

It is the first time the world No 2 has missed the cut since the Open at Royal Troon last July.

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There was better news for Irishman Shane Lowry, whose two-under-par 68 took him to eight under and a share of seventh place along with six other players.

Champ's fellow American Andrew Putnam climbed to second on 10 under after a superb eight-under-par 62 while Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen, who began the day with a share of the lead, was tied third on nine under with Canadians Richard Lee and Nick Taylor.

McIlroy's round continued his troubled build-up to next week's US Open at Oakmont having been forced to switch to a different driver.

The Northern Irishman's previous model was deemed non-conforming in a random test on the eve of last month's US PGA Championship, in which he finished joint-47th.

He was already facing an uphill battle after shooting one over par on Thursday and his day began to unravel after taking an eight on the par-four fifth.

That happened as McIlroy fired his second shot out of bounds from the rough and was forced to take a further penalty after playing a provisional. He then missed the green with his fifth shot and needed three more to find the hole.

Things got worse from there with further bogeys at the eighth and 10th before he double-bogeyed the 11th and then dropped more shots at the 13th and 17th.

There was at least some relief with birdies on the 15th and at the last.

Leader Champ delivered his second successive bogey-free round as he followed his opening 62 with 66.

Justin Rose, beaten by McIlroy in a play-off at the Masters in April, also missed the cut after finishing one under following a round of 74.

World No 8 Ludvig Aberg also ran up a quadruple bogey on his card but held on to make the cut on four under after a 68.

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'My form concerns me going into US Open'

Missing the cut means Rory McIlroy will get a head start packing for the US Open, which starts on June 12, live on Sky Sports.

McIlroy struggled with a new driver, hitting only four of 14 fairways in regulation. He also ranked near the bottom of the field in strokes gained putting and said his performance on Friday has led to concerns about how he will perform at the US Open.

"Of course it concerns me," McIlroy said. "You don't want to shoot high scores like the one I did today.

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"Still, I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn't.

"Obviously going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways. Still sort of searching for the sort of missing piece off the tee."

Who will win the RBC Canadian Open? Watch throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Early coverage begins on Saturday from 5pm on Sky Sports +, ahead of full coverage from 6pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.