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Rory McIlroy limped to a disappointing early exit from the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth after missing the halfway cut by four shots.
The world No 1 again looked out of sorts and short on energy as he stuttered to an error-strewn second-round 78 featuring six bogeys and a double-bogey at the 11th, finishing well down the field on five over par.
Playing the fourth of five tournaments in succession, McIlroy had admitted he was mentally fatigued following his opening 71 which was littered with frustrated outbursts, including hurling his three-wood away in disgust at the 17th which could incur a fine from the European Tour.
Despite having a later tee time for day two, McIlroy was clearly still suffering the effects of his busy schedule and, after opening with a pair of pars, he found three bunkers on the third hole alone before salvaging a bogey with an excellent up-and-down.
McIlroy dropped another shot at the fifth, although he gave himself a lift with a birdie at the eighth before making a torrid start to the back nine. He followed a bogey at 10 with an ugly six at the 11th after another wayward tee shot forced him to take an unplayable lie, and he then hooked his third into the crowd and hit a spectator.
He bunkered another errant drive at the 13th and again failed to save par, and his shoulders sagged further after another bogey at 16 ended any slim hopes of being around for the weekend.
A birdie at 17 was scant consolation, and his performance was summed up at the last when he sculled his second from the left rough to short of the green, pitched 15 feet past the flag and three-putted to close with a six.
McIlroy had not missed a cut in a European Tour event since last June's Irish Open, a tournament he is hosting next week at Royal County Down before he takes a well-earned break prior to preparing for next month's US Open at Chambers Bay.
"I'm not going to read too much into it," he said afterwards. "It was inevitable at some point the run was going to come to a bit of an end. I am back to my usual at Wentworth! It was not great before last year and it has not been great this year.
"I think it was a bit of mental fatigue, especially when I was trying to muster up a few birdies coming down the back nine. I just couldn't get anything going. I would much rather be here for the weekend but if any good comes of this I have a couple of days over the weekend to refresh myself and I will be okay for next week.
"I'm not angry, just a little disappointed I'm not going to be here for the weekend. But coming off the back of three good weeks in the States, I'm probably in need of a rest. I'd rather still be here, but it's not all bad getting to go home for the weekend.
"Any time you're defending a title, you want to come back and give it a valiant effort. This week wasn't really that, but I'll dust myself off and get ready for a big week next week at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open."
