Rory McIlroy misses cut at TPC Sawgrass after erratic 74 on day two

Rory McIlroy will have an unscheduled weekend off after he missed the halfway cut following a disappointing 74 on the second day of The Players Championship.

A week that began with McIlroy full of confidence ended in despair as the 29-year-old paid the price for too many mistakes off the tee at TPC Sawgrass, where he closed 16 shots behind runaway leader Webb Simpson on one over par.

The signs were not promising for McIlroy early on when he chunked a chip into a bunker at the second, although he made a good up-and-down for par which he repeated following a poor tee shot to the short third.

McIlroy’s run of six pars ended at seven after he pulled his tee shot into water and did well to limit damage to a bogey, and a bunkered tee shot at eight led to another dropped shot before he picked up his first birdie of the day at nine with a well-judged two-putt from 65 feet.

But he pulled a driving iron off the tee at the 10th into sand and dropped another shot, although he got it back when he drove the green at the 12th only to block his tee shot to the right of the 13th green and card his fourth bogey of the day.

Mcilroy again responded with a birdie following a nice approach to eight feet at 14, and hauled himself back to the projected cut line with another gain at 16, but his tee shot to 17 pitched on the front bank next to the bunker and rolled back into the water.

McIlroy knocked his third from the drop zone to six feet, but he missed the putt which effectively ended his tournament before a lacklustre par at the last closed left him two over for the day, while playing partners Jordan Spieth (68) and Justin Thomas (70) both scraped through with nothing to spare.

The 29-year-old joined a lengthy list of star names to bow out at the halfway stage, which included former champions Martin Kaymer and Rickie Fowler, who also finished at one over.

World No 9 Hideki Matsuyama was another casualty, with much of the damage being done by taking 13 shots to negotiate the 17th over the two rounds, while Phil Mickelson also packed his bags after he bogeyed the last three holes to slump to eight over par.

(c) Sky News 2018: Rory McIlroy misses cut at TPC Sawgrass after erratic 74 on day two