Rory McIlroy refused to throw in the towel despite slipping out of contention at the halfway stage of The Open.
The 23-year-old Northern Irishman was out of sorts all day at a damp and cold Royal Lytham, firing three bogeys and one double bogey against two birdies in a five-over par 75.
McIlroy had resumed in joint sixth place on three under but his round started to come apart on the short ninth which he double-bogeyed after failing to get out of a greenside bunker.
He then had three bogeys on the back nine - at the 12th, 14th and 17th - to tumble back to two-over 142 for the tournament and 12 shots behind American Brandt Snedeker.
Two minds
"It wasn't the best day out there. I was doing pretty well just to hang in there and making a double on the ninth was sort of the turning point," he said.
"I couldn't really recover from that. I wasn't committing to my tee shots and was in two minds a few times about what shots to hit. That's just something I'll need to improve on.
"I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty good on the range. I was losing a few to the left, so maybe that's why I was trying to protect that one and I missed a couple to the right early on.
"Obviously Snedeker is a little bit ahead at the minute, but I feel like if I can maybe get it back to where I was at the start of the day I'd still have a great chance.
"The course is very playable. You just need to keep out of the bunkers, which is the whole idea any way. I don't see any problem with the water in the bunkers."
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