RORY MCILROY’S POOR run of form continued on Saturday as he missed the cut at the the Dell Technologies Championship, with Spain’s Jon Rahm firing a five-under 66 to take a two-shot lead heading into Sunday evening.
PGA Tour newcomer Rahm, who is ranked fifth in the world, shot an opening round 67 for a total of nine-under 133 at the halfway stage of the second event of the 2017 PGA Tour playoffs.
Canada’s Adam Hadwin, Paul Casey, Kyle Stanley AND Kevin Streelman are tied for second at seven under at the TPC Boston course.
Phil Mickelson is in a group of four tied for sixth at six-under 136, one shot ahead of Spieth and Rose, who both rebounded from one-over 72s in the first round to shoot 65s on Saturday.
Both of Rahm’s mistakes came on his front nine which he began on the 10th tee. After parring his first two holes he made bogey on the par-four 12th.
The 22-year-old Spaniard had a double bogey on the par-three 16th but answered it two holes later with an eagle on 18. His 200 foot approach set him up nicely for a 12-foot putt that curled right to left into the hole.
“It felt like very different — that front nine and back nine,” Rahm said. “I played a nearly perfect back nine. Felt like I didn’t miss a shot.
“But that front nine is the one that probably looked worse than what it felt. It felt like I was making great swings. We misjudged the wind a couple times or we got a couple gusts and ended up missing greens.”
Defending champion McIlroy shot a three-over 74 in the second round for a two-day total of four-over 146 to miss the cut by one stroke.
He will still advance to next week’s BMW Championship despite missing the cut as the defending champion for only the second time in his career.
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