“If I can get myself rolling the way that I feel like I can, then I feel like I can get myself into contention.”
Rory McIlroy lines up a putt on Friday at Augusta.Credit: Getty Images
He was the shining light on a miserable day for Australia’s other two Masters veterans Adam Scott and Cameron Smith (both five-over), who missed the cut by three shots along with the out-of-sorts Cam Davis (nine-over).
Min Woo Lee (one-under) recovered well from a double-bogey on the first, moving to two-under before a bogey on the 18th pushed him outside the top 20.
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Scott (77, 72) hovered around the cut-line all day, but the damage had been done on Thursday, the 2013 winner missing the weekend for the first time in 16 years and for just the third time in 23 visits.
The 44-year-old declined requests for a post-round interview.
Smith (71, 78) had never missed the cut in his previous eight visits to Augusta National – where he boasts five top-10 finishes – but had no answers to his deterioration after beginning the day at one-under-par.
“I don’t feel like I did that much wrong there and don’t really know what to make of it,” he said.
“I still love the place, I don’t think there’s any bad feeling there. I’ve had rounds like this before here and it can just come up and bite you.
