Rory McIlroy shoots second-round 78 and misses cut at Canadian Open

Rory McIlroy endured a day to forget as he missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open after shooting a dismal second-round 78 on Friday.

The Masters champion carded a quadruple bogey, a double and four other bogeys in an eight-over-par round that left him languishing 21 shots behind halfway leader Cameron Champ, who finished on 12 under.

It is the first time the world number two has missed the cut since the Open at Royal Troon last July.

There was better news for Irishman Shane Lowry, whose two-under-par 68 took him to eight under and a share of seventh place along with six other players.

"I think there's still learnings that you have to take from a day like today."

Rory reflects on missing his first cut since @TheOpen in 2024. pic.twitter.com/R7WEo8achO

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 6, 2025

Champ’s fellow American Andrew Putnam climbed to second on 10 under after a superb eight-under-par-62 while Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen, who began the day with a share of the lead, was tied third on nine under with Canadians Richard Lee and Nick Taylor.

McIlroy’s round continued his troubled build-up to next week’s US Open at Oakmont having been forced to switch to a different driver.

The Northern Irishman’s previous model was deemed non-conforming in a random test on the eve of last month’s US PGA Championship, in which he finished joint-47th.

He was already facing an uphill battle after shooting one over par on Thursday and his day began to unravel after taking an eight on the par-four fifth.

Is this any good?