OAKMONT, Pa. – Rory McIlroy will be sticking around for the weekend at Oakmont.
The left tee marker on the 17th hole, however, won’t be.
McIlroy surely will receive a bill from the USGA for the damage, which occurred after McIlroy sent his drive sailing toward the front-right greenside bunker at drivable par-4 and then took his frustrations out with one swift blow using his driver. The characteristic time of the clubhead on the marker was likely below the legal limit, but it didn’t matter, as the marker was split like Bruce Lee karate-chopping a 2x4.
Rory juist SMASHED the tee marker on 17. pic.twitter.com/0tLe0ylpM3
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterNS) June 13, 2025
That wasn’t the only outburst from the 36-year-old McIlroy. Earlier on the back nine, he tomahawked a long iron down the fairway after hooking his second shot at the par-5 12th into the rough.
Ironically, McIlroy saved par on both holes, then stuffed a wedge to 5 feet at the par-4 finishing hole to card a second straight 73 and make the cut by a shot at 6 over.
Also somewhat ironically, McIlroy nearly ranks in the top 10 in strokes gained: off the tee through 36 holes after struggling with a new driver at the PGA Championship a few weeks ago.
Sure, he’s losing around three-fourths of a shot on approach and is nine shots behind heading into Saturday (he’d be just three if not for three double bogeys in a five-hole span between the end of his first round and start of his second), but things could be much worse. For starters, McIlroy could’ve endured the last two days of his playing competitors, Shane Lowry and Justin Rose, who combined to shoot 31 over.
And it’s not like, you know, McIlroy didn’t complete the career Grand Slam just two months ago at Augusta National.
But while Lowry stopped to talk to the media, McIlroy, hat turned backwards, declined all interview requests for the sixth straight major round – he did conduct a press conference on Tuesday – and headed directly to the parking lot.
Everyone will try again tomorrow.
