Rory McIlroy’s Masters bid in tatters after torrid day as Brooks Koepka powers clear at Augusta National

Rory McIlroy’s bid to complete the career grand slam will have to wait another year as his Masters challenge imploded on Friday.

The Northern Irishman arrived at Augusta in confident mood, but he struggled to find his game on Thursday and it did not improve on Friday.

While he drove the ball excellently in the main, his usually impeccable iron play was badly off colour.

His wedge play has been much improved in the past 18 months, but he could never get his yardages dialled in – and Augusta took no prisoners.

McIlroy signed for a 77 on Friday, to leave him at five-over and almost certain to miss the cut.

Should conditions deteriorate as predicted and he somehow made the cut, he would go into the weekend 17 shots adrift of Brooks Koepka who powered to 12-under.

Koepka won his latest start in the LIV Golf event in Orlando, and he has always been a force at major championships.

After going close to Masters glory in 2019, when an inspired Tiger Woods denied him, Koepka’s career took a backward step as knee injuries took a toll.

He made the controversial move to join LIV last year, and there were fears it would impact on his sharpness at the majors.

Koepka went blemish free on Friday, carding an eagle and two birdies. And the worry for the chasing pack is that his putter was pretty cold, as he missed a series of putts from inside 15 feet.

Four-time major winner Koepka has never liked the grind of the regular tour, and far from LIV hurting his career it could prove to be the opposite as it allows him to play a limited schedule and channel his efforts into the majors.

The Masters is never won on a Friday, but Kopeka has put himself in a strong position going into the weekend.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was vying for favouritism with McIlroy at the start of the week, but he too struggled.

The defending champion’s troubles were solely down to his putter, which was ice cold over the first two days and he will go into the weekend at one-under.

Sam Bennett was in the group alongside Scheffler, and the amateur served notice of his quality with a 68 for the second day in a row to get to eight-under.