Rory McIlroy struggles as Scottie Scheffler copes with nasty, windy Augusta

Rory McIlroy bemoaned the woeful pace of play after seeing his bid for a career grand slam blown off course on day two of the Masters.

McIlroy's birdie-free second round of 77 took an incredible six hours and two minutes to complete alongside Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler, the world number one’s 72 giving him a share of the halfway lead with Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau on six under par.

Tiger Woods made a record 24th straight cut at Augusta as a host of big names failed to make it inside the six over cut line.

McIlroy battled hard on a day when it was clear he didn't have his best stuff and he didn't card a single birdie.

At times he drove well, hit decent iron shots, chipped sharply and rolled in some putts, but rarely did he combine all of these qualities on one hole during an error strewn round.

Bogeys at five, seven and 14, plus a double bogey six at 11 did the damage, while he once again uncharacteristically failed to take advantage of any of the par fives.

A 77 to follow his first round 71 leaves him on four over heading into the weekend.

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"Just hard to make a score and just sort of trying to make as many pars as possible. I felt like I did OK. I made that bogey on 14, and even just to par the last four holes and get in the clubhouse and have a tee time tomorrow, I’m sort of pretty happy with."

Asked about the pace of play, McIlroy said: "It felt long, yeah. Especially that 11th hole, it felt like it took an hour to play that hole.

"It was stop and start, hard to get into a rhythm with the conditions and obviously how slow the play was as well."

He continued: "I won from 10 back [at halfway] in Dubai at the start of the year, but obviously the Dubai Desert Classic and the Masters are two very