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The four-times major champion followed up his
opening round 79 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
with another poor showing as he shot three bogeys and a double
bogey en route to his worst 36-hole score since 2013.
The Northern Irishman, the first defending champion to miss the
cut since Rickie Fowler in 2016, said his bid to add speed and
power to his game, inspired by Bryson DeChambeau's U.S. Open
triumph, had backfired.
"I added some speed and I am hitting the ball longer, but what
that did to my swing as a whole probably wasn't a good thing, so
I'm sort of fighting to get back out of that," he said.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't anything to do with what
Bryson did at the US Open. I think a lot of people saw that and
were like, if this is the way they're going to set golf courses
up in the future, it helps. It really helps.
"I thought being able to get some more speed is a good thing,
and maybe to the detriment of my swing, I got there, but I just
need to maybe rein it back in a little bit."
The cut will be made official on Saturday after the completion
of the second round, which was paused due to fading light. It is
projected at even par.
England's Lee Westwood compiled a bogey-free six-under 66 to
take the halfway lead on nine under, one ahead of compatriot
Matt Fitzpatrick.
(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani
Sarkar)
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