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TRON, Scotland: World number two Rory McIlroy and three-time champion Tiger Woods led a host of former champions in the second round of the British Open at Royal Troon on Friday, but they missed the cut due to strong winds.
McIlroy lifted the Claret Jug at Hoylake in 2014 but bowed out early in the final major of the year after opening with a 78 and then a 75.
The cut score was six-over 142, with 80 players advancing to Saturday’s third round.
The missed 5-foot birdie putt on the final hole capped a disappointing week for McIlroy, who had been hoping to end his decade-long wait for a fifth major title after a late slump cost him the U.S. Open last month.
“I had a bad start today, six over the first six holes, but I played the last 12 holes really well without any bogeys,” the Northern Irishman told reporters.
“If there’s something I need to remember about this week, it’s the last few holes I played.
“I had no experience with the left-to-right wind yesterday on the back nine and then had another gust this afternoon on the front nine which actually made me play better,” added the Northern Irish player, who bogeyed the third hole, triple-bogeyed the fourth and lost a couple of shots on the fifth and sixth holes.
Woods has been plagued by health problems in recent years. This year is the first time he has participated in all four majors since 2019, but he fell far behind his opponents with scores of 79 and 77 and failed to qualify.
“Well, it wasn’t a great performance,” the 48-year-old American said of his second round. “I had a double bogey just two shots in and I should have had another one. I was fighting it pretty much all day. I never really got close enough to make birdie and ended up having a lot of bogeys.”
Other former champions who failed to make the cut included 2022 St Andrews champion Cameron Smith of Australia, Italy’s Francesco Molinari, last Troon Open champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden, Americans Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Justin Leonard and Todd Hamilton and South African Louis Oosthuizen.
Also withdrawing before the second round were two-time champion Ernie Els of South Africa and American John Daly, the 1995 St. Andrews champion.
Other notable players who failed to make the cut included world number four Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, ninth-ranked American and U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and world number seven Viktor Hovland of Norway.
Seven of the top 12 players in the world were eliminated early at Royal Troon.
(Editor: Ed Osmond)
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