Rory McIlroy experienced a birthday to forget as he equalled his worst round at Quail Hollow during the Wells Fargo Championship.
The 29-year-old made a strong start to his bid for a third victory in the event with an opening-round 68, only to slide down the leaderboard with a bogey-filled 76 on Friday.
McIlroy bogeyed three of his final five holes to finish just inside the cut line, heading into the weekend in the group on two-over-par and nine strokes off midway pacesetter Peter Malnati.
Going out as one of the afternoon starters, McIlroy failed to convert from eight feet to save par at the first and dropped another shot at the fifth after being unable to get up-and-down from a bunker.
McIlroy squandered birdie opportunities at the seventh and eighth but picked up a shot from four feet at the ninth to reach the turn in 36, only to slide down the leaderboard with a double-bogey at the 11th.
The Northern Irishman hit a stunning approach from the pines to leave a close-range birdie at the 12th but sent his tee shot at the driveable 14th into the water on his way to a bogey-five.
McIlroy’s putting struggles continued as he needed two attempts from eight feet to par the 15th and was unable to save par from even close at the par-four next.
The world No 7 looked in danger of missing the cut when he dropped a shot at the 17th to slip three over for the tournament, but recovered from finding the trees off the final tee to save par at the last.
