Rory McIlroy played himself out of contention at the U.S. Open with five back-nine bogeys on Saturday in Southampton, N.Y.
His 40 on the inward nine continued a weeklong trend for the Northern Irishman: McIlroy has played the front nine at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in 5 under par and the back nine in 8 over.
That leaves the six-time major champion at 3-over 213 entering Sunday, as many as 11 strokes behind leader Wyndham Clark as he was wrapping up his round.
McIlroy posted rounds of 69 and 71 to begin the championship – not shooting himself out of the running, in his words – before Saturday’s 73.
McIlroy had three straight birdies at Nos. 5-7, including an unlikely 66 1/2-footer that fell at the par-4 sixth. That put him 2 under for the day and the championship as he made the turn, within striking distance of Clark with 27 holes to play.
Then he proceeded to make a mess of the 10th, his approach rolling off the back of the green and his return shot skidding 22 feet past the pin en route to bogey.
He three-putted from 52 feet away to bogey No. 12, then had déjà vu two holes later when he left himself 57 1/2 feet on his approach. As the third down was concluding, McIlroy ranked 60th out of 72 remaining golfers in strokes gained on approach, while he gained strokes in all other categories.
But No. 15, another par-4, featured a bit of everything – from a tee shot into the native area to a third shot from behind the green that didn’t make it to the top shelf and trickled all the way off. McIlroy waggled his club in his left hand as soon as he knew he’d flubbed the shot.
McIlroy, who did not speak to reporters after the round, missed an 8-foot birdie look at the par-5 16th, crashed into the sand and saved par at the par-3 17th and closed with one more bogey, featuring another visit to the native area that forced him to punch out in the opposite direction from the pin.
McIlroy reached just eight of 18 greens in regulation, well below the field average.
The two-time reigning Masters champion would need a historic series of events to make a comeback on Sunday. His only victory at the U.S. Open was his first major title back in 2011.
-Field Level Media
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