Rory McIlroy disappointed in his second round of the Dubai Desert Classic earlier today, sneaking home three under to be ten shots off the lead.
A remarkable couple of rounds from Cam Young has seen the American go into a huge lead, albeit with Andy Sullivan and Adrian Meronk not too far behind.
For McIlroy though, it was all very poor by his standards as he scrambled around to post an under par score but be well out of contention for now.
And speaking on Sky Sports about McIlroy’s performance, Andrew Coltart felt that the issue of missing fairways simply cost the Northern Irishman dearly.
Andrew Coltart picks out faults in Rory McIlroy’s game
Speaking about McIlroy, the experience Sky pundit Coltart stated that he was surprised by the 34-year-old’s performance.
“It’s interesting. He’s missed too many fairways to be able to attack some of these pins on firm greens. What was it, just three or four fairways today? That’s not enough. It’s been a little bit flat. A bit of a lacklustre performance from Rory. I’m surprised to see that, particularly after last week where I thought he would just step up to the mark this week,” Coltart said.
Indeed, it was a bit of a damp squib from McIlroy, who had come so close to winning last week before Tommy Fleetwood pipped him.
A big two days lie ahead now for McIlroy. Of course, Saturday could easily see him shoot low and suddenly be in contention.
But he’ll need to be far better than he’s shown so far. By McIlroy’s standards, it’s just nowhere near his level.
At the minute, Young is romping clear but McIlroy knows things can change quickly. He needs a fast start and if he starts creeping up the leader board, then who knows.
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