No excuses as Rory McIlroy plays the gracious host

Rory McIlroy refused to blame his responsibilities as tournament host at Royal County Down as he crashed out of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

The world No.1, who strived tirelessly to raise his national Open to a higher level by attracting a stellar field and bringing on board a title sponsor for the tournament for the first time in five years, had arrived at Royal County Down on the back of missed cut at the BMW PGA Championship last Friday but despite mental fatigue, had thrown himself into his duties as de facto host on behalf of his Rory Foundation.

Colleagues such as Graeme McDowell and Pádraig Harrington suggested those responsibilities had contributed to an opening round, nine-over-par 80 on Thursday for McIlroy, 26, but the four-time major champion was having none of that yesterday as a level-par second-round 71 failed to lift him high enough up the leaderboard to make the halfway cut.