Rory McIlroy rues putting woes

The world number one started the day nine shots adrift of joint leaders Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed and sorely in need of a barnstormer of a round.

Tacoma — Rory McIlroy endured one of the most agonising putting displays of his career at the US Open on Saturday as his hopes of a fifth major title were badly dented.

The world number one started the day nine shots adrift of joint leaders Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed and sorely in need of a barnstormer of a round.

He delivered off the tee and fairways with some superb shot-making, but time and again he missed with the putter from within eight feet.

At the end of the day, two front nine birdies were matched by two back nine bogeys and McIlroy was back where he started at four over par.

“I’m hitting great shots and great drives and giving myself chances the whole time,” he said.

“So it’s just hard to stay patient whenever I’m not holing anything. I feel mentally I’ve accepted most things this week, which is good.”

The putting woes he experienced on Saturday were not new as he had gone through something similar in the two opening rounds.

“Whenever you start to miss a couple you start to get a little tentative,” McIlroy said after his even-par round of 70.

“You start to doubt yourself. You start to doubt the greens a little bit. And then it just sort of — it snowballs from there. I holed a few nice ones early on, but once I missed a couple it got into my head and couldn’t really get out of it.”