FedEx St Jude Championship: Rory McIlroy misses cut as patchy play continues at TPC Southwind

Rory McIlroy’s struggles at the FedEx St Jude Championship continued on Friday, with the Irishman missing the cut.

The four-time major winner said on the eve of the tournament that he would likely be extremely rusty as he had put his clubs away for some family time following his near miss at the Open.

McIlroy’s play improved as his round progressed on Thursday, to suggest he was shaking off some rust.

And the early signs were positive on Friday as he birdied his second hole and followed up with another to get to two-under.

He found the green in two on the par five 16th, his seventh, but was left to mutter to himself in frustration after racing an eagle putt 12 feet beyond the cup and saw the return effort slip by on the low side.

It seemed to sap energy from McIlroy, and he found water off the tee on 18, his ninth hole, and it cost him a shot.

Second Round Leaderboard

• 1. JJ Spaun, 11-under
• T2. Sepp Straka, 10-under
• T2. Troy Merritt, 10-under
• 4. Denny McCarthy, nine-under
• T5. Brian Harman, eight-under
• T5. Tony Finau, eight-under
• T5. Cameron Smith, eight-under
• T5. Ryan Palmer, eight-under

He repaired the damage with excellent birdies on the following two holes to get to three-under, and comfortably inside the cut line.

But a bogey on the sixth, his 15th, set him back and in gambling for a birdie on the final hole to secure his place at the weekend, he found trouble and a bogey sent him back to one-under for the tournament.

His focus will now shift to the practice range and sharpening his game for the second of the FedEx Cup play-offs, the BMW Championship next week.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will have the weekend off after finishing alongside McIlroy at one-under.

Jordan Spieth is another player who won’t be around for the weekend. Like McIlroy, he looked extremely rusty on his first appearance since the Open and finished on four-over.

At the other end of the field, JJ Spaun began the day in a share of the lead, and ended it as sole occupier of the spot after a composed round of 67 took him to 11-under.

Sepp Straka arrived in the play-offs with little recent form, missing six cuts in a row, but he added a 66 to an opening 64 to sit at 10-under alongside Troy Merritt.

Big guns are lurking, and Cameron Smith will be around for the weekend and looking in the mood to challenge as the Open champion eased to a 65 to sit at eight-under.

Tony Finau’s hot streak continued as he carded another round in the 60s to ease to eight-under at the halfway mark.

Open Championship runner-up Cameron Young drained a 10-foot putt on the final hole to get in for the weekend on the cut line at two-under.