The last time we saw Rory McIlroy was at the Players Championship in Florida two weeks ago. That didn’t go especially well for the 31-year-old (he missed the cut by 10 shots) and Wednesday’s round in Texas offered more of the same.
Competing against pal Ian Poulter (the two shared a lighthearted lunch after their miserable performances at TPC Sawgrass earlier this month) in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club, McIlroy butchered the front nine, collapsing on the green at four (he three-putted from inside 18 feet) before launching his tee shot on the Par-4 fifth hole into a neighbor’s yard.
McIlroy, who won this event when it was held at Harding Park in 2015, missed the fairway by a mile, dunking his errant drive into a residential swimming pool. Needless to say, Poulter won the hole.
It was that kind of day for the Irishman, whose blunder-filled round included four bogeys. Poulter, who is also a past champion (he took the Match Play crown in 2010), cruised to an easy 6 & 5 victory, needing just 13 holes to put the slumping McIlroy out of his misery. The World No. 11 will look to put Wednesday’s disappointment behind him in his next round-robin match Thursday against Lanto Griffin.
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