Frustration for McDowell and McGinley

Graeme McDowell was sitting comfortably at five under until the dreaded 17th put paid to his chances.

The Portrush golfer blasted a two iron into the semi-rough and tugged his approach into the fearsome Road Bunker, where he thinned his recovery across the green and into the wall over the road.

He duffed his fourth into the bank, chipped past the hole and three putted for a quadruple-bogey eight, dropping him to one under.

Prior to that he had had a reasonable round with birdies at the first and fifth in an outward nine of 34.

He bogeyed the 465-yard 13th but birdied the par-five next before coming unstuck.

“That was a disappointing end. I played really well today. I struck the ball great today but it was one of those things,” he said.

“We seen all the disasters on 17 before and now it has bitten me for the first time but I wouldn’t have done anything differently.

“I could have been very conservative with my bunker shot but I didn’t think I was taking on anything too dangerous I just didn’t play the shot well.”

There was more frustration for Dublin’s Paul McGinley, though, as he began the day at one over having just survived the cut and shot a 73 to slip back a stroke.

After a run of eight birdies he had a double-bogey at the ninth after driving into a fairway bunker.

Having splashed out he then pitched through the green, chipped back to six feet but missed for a five.

He then birdied the 10th and the 12th but a bogey at the 456-yard 15th and a six at the infamous Road Hole meant even a birdie on the last could not lighten his mood.

“It is disappointing. There is no rhyme of reason to this game,” he said.

“I feel I am doing all the right things but it is just not happening.

“It is an opportunity missed to play well on the big stage and that is disappointing.

“But if you try to figure it out you end up in a rubber room!”

At the top of the leaderboard things were not going all Woods’ way as he dropped a shot at the second, claimed it back at the par-five fifth only to relinquish it at the next after hitting into a gorse bush.

He birdied the short par-four seventh to get back to 11 under, which was two ahead of South African Retief Goosen, who carded a 66.

Woods’ playing partner Colin Montgomerie was a further shot back alongside Jose Maria Olazabal.