Rory McIlroy's stretch run to the Masters is off to a disappointing start with the world number one poised to miss the cut at the US PGA Tour's Honda Classic.
The 25-year-old from Northern Ireland could find just one birdie with five bogeys in a four-over par 74 on Friday for a seven-over total of 147 that left him four shots over the projected cut line in the rain-hit $6.1 million event.
When McIlroy walked off the green at PGA National's ninth -- where he made his fifth bogey of the day after hitting into a fairway bunker -- Patrick Reed was the clubhouse leader on six-under par.
Jim Herman, the surprise first-round leader on five-under, had yet to tee off thanks to two weather delays lasting more than three hours.
McIlroy opened with a bogey at the par-four 10th and finished his front nine with a bogey at 18.
He pulled a shot back at the par-three fifth hole when he rattled in a five-foot putt, but bogeyed three of his last four holes.
It was a disappointing performance after McIlroy insisted on Thursday he could still turn things around after a three-over 73 in the wind-swept opening round.
McIlroy arrived Stateside for his first US PGA Tour start of 2015 on a high.
In his last 12 tournaments worldwide, McIlroy has four victories and four runner-up finishes, including a win three weeks ago in the European Tour's Dubai Desert Classic.
That stretch started with his Open Championship triumph at Hoylake and included a World Golf Championships title at Akron, Ohio, last year and a second straight major crown at the US PGA Championship.
At the Masters, which starts April 9 at Augusta National, McIlroy will be gunning for a third straight major and to complete a career Grand Slam.
He will continue his build up to the first major of the year at the World Golf Championships event at Doral next week, and his first-ever start in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on March 19-22.
Source: AFP
