Rory McIlroy bemoans slow play on ‘tough day’ at the Masters

McIlroy’s birdie-free second round of 77 took an incredible six hours and two minutes to complete.

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, watches his tee shot on the seventh hole during the second round (Matt Slocum/AP) (AP)

Rory McIlroy bemoaned the woeful pace of play after seeing his bid for a career grand slam blown off course on day two of the Masters.

McIlroy’s birdie-free second round of 77 took an incredible six hours and two minutes to complete alongside Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler, the world number one’s 72 giving him a share of the halfway lead with Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau on six under par.

McIlroy, who slumped to four over, said: “Tough day, really tough day.

“Just hard to make a score and just sort of trying to make as many pars as possible. I felt like I did okay. I made that bogey on 14, and even just to par the last four holes and get in the clubhouse and have a tee time tomorrow, I’m sort of pretty happy with.”

Asked about the pace of play, McIlroy said: “It felt long, yeah. Especially that 11th hole, it felt like it took an hour to play that hole.

“It was stop and start, hard to get into a rhythm with the conditions and obviously how slow the play was as well.”

He continued: “I won from 10 back [at halfway] in Dubai at the start of the year, but obviously the Dubai Desert Classic and the Masters are two very different golf tournaments.

“We’ll see. Hopefully the conditions are a little better tomorrow. Yeah, I still think I can go out tomorrow and shoot a low one, get back into red numbers, and have half a chance going into Sunday.”