Brooks Koepka forges Masters lead while Rory McIlroy faces missing cut

Seventeen shots separated Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy by the time the Northern Irishman reached Augusta National’s scoring hut at the end of round two. Perhaps confirmation of a missed cut, not yet forthcoming because of weather interruptions in Augusta, would spare McIlroy the hassle of playing 36 holes of a major he knew he could no longer win.

McIlroy’s 77 was his highest round here since day three of the 2016 Masters. Added to Thursday’s 72, this served as his latest wounding experience in this corner of Georgia. McIlroy needs ‘only’ the Masters to become the sixth golfer in history to claim a clean sweep of major titles; the lingering sense is that the weight of history sits too heavily upon his shoulders. His wait for a fifth major title, a gnawing wait, stretching back to August 2014 goes on. No wonder the 33-year-old, shoulders slumped, looked a dejected soul.

There may be a fundamental explanation for this five over par aggregate. This year has McIlroy won the Dubai Desert Classic and finished second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational but there has been some ragged stuff elsewhere. He missed the cut, for example, at the Players Championship. McIlroy’s ability is such that his B or even C games can mix it at most places; in this most unforgiving of environments, flaws are exposed. McIlroy arrived at Augusta in fine spirits and with high hopes. He will surely depart more unsure than ever of how to crack the Masters code. McIlroy sat in a share of 61st – 50 and ties make the cut – when a second weather delay hit late on Friday afternoon. Players did not return to the course, with the second round to resume at 7:30am local time on Saturday. More than 30 competitors have not yet reached the 36-hole juncture.

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