“Not great. A little bit annoyed. Yeah, a little bit p****d off,” he opined bluntly after firing a two-over second-round 73 to finish the week at three-over-par, two shots too many for the cut line.
You could hardly blame him, given he started the day so positively with a birdie at the first, but a double-bogey at the eighth after finding trouble over the green and two more bogeys at the par-fours 11 and 14 were enough to do the damage.
He reinvigorated his hopes of making the weekend with a birdie at the 15th to get back to three-over, with the cut at that point threatening to move to two-over, but three pars to finish just wasn’t good enough.
“The whole week was good, sort of positive,” he continued.
“I thought I played all right, just a few sort of stupid mistakes that, looking back, I wouldn’t really hit different.
“The shot was fine, just sort of missed in the wrong spot or got the club slightly wrong.
“Overall, I actually thought I played quite nicely, just a few silly mistakes.”
Tom McKibbin during his second-round 73 at Royal Portrush
The Open at Royal Portrush: What happened in 2019
It is another crucial bit of Major experience for the 22-year-old, who has four more events on the LIV Tour to play in before he finishes his season with some DP World Tour invites, even if this was the first he has played where it only lasted for two rounds.
He will take plenty of confidence from a strong showing on the greens, where he ranked fourth in strokes gained putting, and how he battled through some punishing weather but, ultimately, it wasn’t enough to get him in for the weekend.
“I think that’s what’s probably most annoying. This is probably the best I’ve played out of them all,” McKibbin fumed.
“Just so many like stupid errors, just pins at the back of the green, hitting over the green. It’s just where there’s nothing really wrong with the shot. So, I think that’s what’s a little bit frustrating.”
Darren Clarke walks along during The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush where he missed the cut
Meanwhile, if this was Darren Clarke’s final appearance at a Major, then it was a great one to go out on, and he gave himself a chance of making the cut even if he did end up missing the number by a considerable distance.
The 56-year-old looked visibly emotional as he walked up towards the 18th grandstand to round out a second consecutive three-over 74 to end the week at six-over, but he will not forget holing a 56-footer for birdie on the 10th that fostered hope that he might do something special.
In the end, though, five bogeys sunk him, including at the 13th and 18th after the birdie at 10, and it’s a missed cut for the Dungannon man. Time will tell, but it could very well be his last in this hallowed event.
Keep the faith, Rory McIlroy can provide the dream finish over the weekend at Royal Portrush
The Open: Rory McIlroy paired with English star as third round tee times released
