Frustrated Rory McIlroy smashes tee box at U.S. Open, but still makes cut

First Rory McIlroy flung an iron down the 12th fairway. Then he used driver to demolish a tee marker on 17. He might not win the sportsmanship award at the U.S. Open, but he will get to play on the weekend.

McIlroy overcame two rounds of frustration by draining a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Friday to finish at 6-over par and guarantee himself a weekend tee time at Oakmont that didn’t feel secure until that last ball dropped in the cup.

The cutline hovered at 6 over for most the day until moving to 7 over toward the end of the round, which got rained out with a handful of players still on the course.

Other than the approach shot he hit on 18 for the strong finish, or the 20-foot birdie he made on 15 after teeing off into the first cut, McIlroy’s rounds of 74-72 over the first 36 holes at Oakmont weren’t much to talk about.

The Masters champion ran his streak to six competition rounds at majors without doing interviews after the round.

McIlroy’s weekend was still in limbo when he walked to the tee on the drivable par-4 17th, then blocked the shot into a greenside bunker. He used his left arm to smash the club down and shatter the nearby tee marker. He gathered himself to make par there.

A few hours earlier on the par-5 12th — another decent birdie chance — McIlroy catapulted his iron down the fairway after pulling his second shot into the left rough. He made par there, too.

The birdie at the end capped a round of 2-over 72. It did not mask the issues McIlroy has been facing since his driver was deemed non-conforming before the PGA Championship, sending him on a mad search for a reliable replacement.

In two rounds this week, McIlroy has hit 15 of 28 fairways, a stat that doesn’t include all drivers but is indicative of where his tee game has gone since he won the Masters two months ago to complete the career Grand Slam.

At Oakmont, with its ankle-high rough, two missed fairways over McIlroy’s first three holes led to a pair of double bogeys and forced him to play catch-up for the rest of the round — not to climb into contention, but simply to make the weekend.

Next comes the search for motivation — something McIlroy conceded has been hard to find since his landmark victory at Augusta National. On the line this week is his string of six straight top-10 finishes at the U.S. Open, including a pair of runner-ups the last two years. He will start the third round nine shots off the lead.