Out of sorts Rory McIlroy in race against time after opening 77

He didn’t quite throw in the towel but Rory McIlroy looked so rushed, so flustered, and so out of sorts with his game that his target of a second-round 66 to rescue the disaster of his opening 77 looks utterly unrealistic.

Forget about the 34 putts that the world No 3 had in the joint worst round of his US Open career, matching his opening 77 at Olympic Club in 2012, where he missed the cut.

The problem is not desire but time, and while he planned to return to the range yesterday evening to try and correct his swing before wrestling the gorilla of Oakmont for the second time today, he may already have done too much damage with his seven over par opening round.