Rory McIlroy looking to Olympics - and a holiday - after Open exit
Rory McIlroy after his round during day two of The Open at Royal Troon. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire.
Rory McIlroy admits he started thinking about where to take his next vacation long before the end of his last Open round of the week, but confirmed he will be back in the game for a tilt at an Olympic medal in a couple of weeks’ time.
The search for his fifth major, and first since 2014, will stretch into an eleventh year after he followed a first round 78 with a second-round 75 that started atrociously with a triple bogey and three bogeys between the 3rd and 6th holes.
Making the cut wasn’t happening after that.
“Yeah, once I made the eight on the 4th hole, that was it. 22 holes into the event and I'm thinking about where I'm going to go on vacation next week. That was basically it.
“I knew from then I'd sort of resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to shoot, whatever it is, four or five-under from there on in to make the cut.” McIlroy played those last 12 holes in two-under par but described them as “meaningless”. He clearly needs some head space after a thoroughly miserable experience here but he’s not done yet with 2024.
“I feel like I say this every Open Championship, but it's not as if we only play four events a year. We play like 25, so there's still a few things left to play for.
“Obviously the majors have come and gone, but to sort of refocus and try to reset for the Olympics, which will be another cool experience, and try to play well there.
“And, then again, I'm in contention to try to win both titles on either side of the Atlantic, so still some things to play for until the end of the year.” Of the six Irishmen in the field, four made the cut. Shane Lowry first and foremost.
The Open leader aside, Padraig Harrington and Tom McKibben both breezed in even with both men grumbling at different times about their play and wishing they could have done more with the 36 holes played.
Harrington came here with a hot putter and a struggling all-round game and delivered a cold blade but a tee-to-green experience that leaves him on three-over and much happier with where he is at ahead of next week’s Senior Open at Carnoustie.
McKibben was hyper-critical of himself after a two-over par 73 on day one but accepted that a three-over total over the two days was, on reflection, a pretty good effort considering the conditions and some of the names who will be leaving Scotland early.
“Yeah, I guess so. Yesterday I was very disappointed. I just didn't play very good. I sort of felt like I got round the course quite well and same today, but just haven't really felt too comfortable, especially with my approach shots and stuff the last couple of days.
“But yeah, once yesterday when I seen the scores, I thought, geez, maybe I was a bit hard on myself,” said McKibben who is, after all, playing his first Open and only his second major. “So it was a little bit better today.”
Three-putting 18 wasn’t the best way to finish up but Darren Clarke signed off in better style with a birdie at the last, his six-over total leaving him outside the cut at that point but eventually slipping him in by the tightest of margins hours later.
Galway amateur Liam Nolan followed up a first-round six-over 77 with a 78 to wrap up his first major on 13-over, but he is sticking around for the weekend to support Lowry and pick up some up-close tips from the world’s best.
