Rory McIlroy struggles at Irish Open, not contending at The Ok Membership

Many have claimed Rory McIlroy to be the very best driver of the golf ball the sport has ever seen.

Others disagree, and people who do had a robust argument on Friday at The Ok Membership.

McIlroy hit solely 5 of 14 fairways throughout his second spherical of the Horizon Irish Open, as he discovered the brief grass simply as soon as on the again 9.

Everybody within the discipline this week has mentioned the significance of discovering the fairways on the 2006 Ryder Cup venue. The tough that strains these slender fairways is whispy and thick, which might rapidly flip a birdie gap right into a troublesome one.

“You’ve bought to drive it nicely right here,” McIlroy stated in his pre-tournament press convention Wednesday. “The tough may be very thick, so there’s very a lot a premium on getting the ball in play off the tee.”

Photograph by Richard Heathcote/Getty Photos

“However then from there, it’s not the longest golf course on the earth, so you may rating. However to me, it’s all about placing the ball in play off the tee right here this week as a result of the tough is fairly penal.”

On the par-4 seventeenth, a dogleg left that runs alongside the River Liffey, McIlroy pushed his tee shot proper of the green. His ball nestled in a whispy lie whereas timber blocked out his shot to the inexperienced.

This errant tee shot marked his fourth consecutive missed fairway, and sadly for the Northern Irishman, he needed to pay a steep value. McIlroy carded a double-bogey six, which fully negated a hole-out eagle he made on the earlier gap, the par-5 sixteenth.

Fortunately for him, the par-5 18th is likely one of the best holes on the course. After lacking the green once more on the final gap—regardless of hitting a 361-yard drive—McIlroy managed to bounce again with a birdie, which dropped him to 2-under on the day.

He carded a 2-under 70 and sits at 5-under for the championship, eight photographs behind Jordan Smith of England and Shubhankar Sharma of India.

Ought to McIlroy make a transfer and attempt to contend, he’ll want his driver to cooperate.

On the very least, he might want to work out the kinks forward of the Ryder Cup in Rome. He has six extra aggressive rounds to take action as he heads to England for the BMW PGA Championship subsequent week.

Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in Via. You possibly can observe him on Twitter @jack_milko for extra golf protection. You’ll want to take a look at @_PlayingThrough too.