Rory McIlroy’s Irish Open title defense took another frustrating turn on Friday. When he scored one-under 69 during his first round, he blamed it on strong winds and slow play. But today was not that windy, and yet it was another 69 in Round 2. Speaking after his second round, McIlroy was candid about what had been holding him back. His comments revealed a problem that can be difficult to fix once doubt starts creeping into a player’s mind.

“Frustration,” McIlroy began his lengthy response, “I just didn’t have it on the greens. I really struggled to read them. It’s hard whenever you struggle to read them, and then when you do get over the ball, you’re trying to trust what you’re seeing. But everything else that you have seen hasn’t gone the way you thought, so it’s hard to put a committed stroke on it.”

McIlroy carded two birdies and an eagle on the par-five eighth, but three bogeys (holes 7, 11, and 18) offset the gains, leaving him at one-under 69. This brings his cumulative score to 2-under 138 and nine shots behind the 36-hole leader, Shane Lowry. Putting was the culprit, as he missed multiple chances from short range. In fact, it was so bad that McIlroy admitted he was trying to rely on playing partner Brooks Koepka’s reading to make his own putts.

“The putt that I holed on 17—the only reason I holed that is because I saw what Brooks did before me, it was on the exact same line. So if I can get myself some more putts like that where someone can show me the line, then that would be good,” Rory McIlroy lamented.

Three moments that summed up Rory McIlroy’s agonizing day

McIlroy ranked eighth in driving accuracy on Friday, which was phenomenal considering the distance he aims for. But he ranked 109th in Putts per GIR. The problem became apparent on three holes.

• The missed par-save on the seventh: A sensational bunker shot left him just three feet from the pin. However, he missed the three-footer and had to card a bogey, which could’ve been an easy par.
• The agony at the 11th: Another par-3. Another missed putt. McIlroy chipped to six feet off the cup, but his par-putt missed the hole by a foot. Once again, the Ulsterman had to add another square to his scorecard.
• The three-putt on the 18th: On the final hole, McIlroy missed a four-foot birdie putt to end the round on a bitter note. It came right after he holed a 40-footer for birdie on the 17th.

All in all, McIlroy had eight putts inside 12 feet that he missed. If he could have managed to get even half of them in the hole, the outcome of today’s round would have been very different.

“I just need to try to hole a few more putts or get a handle on reading them a little bit better,” Rory McIlroy added.

Rory McIlroy’s title defense is almost out of reach

Shane Lowry led the tournament after two rounds. He has a healthy margin of three strokes over the current tied runner-ups. Lowry fired a course record of 62 on Friday to separate himself from the others. Fellow Irishman Tom McKibbin has also finished his second round. He scored 68-67 in his two rounds.

Another key thing worth noting is that cut day was over an hour quicker than the six-hour opening round. During the post-round conference on Thursday, Rory McIlroy said that the slow play didn’t allow him to get into a rhythm. While that wasn’t the issue today, the result is no different.

Last year, Rory McIlroy had carded rounds of 4-under and 6-under during the weekend to force a playoff and win the title. If he could recreate that magic, he still has a pretty good chance. But it all depends on how he putts the next two days because, according to him, he is already doing quite well in every other aspect.

“Tee to green, I feel like I’m right there. I’m pretty happy with how I’ve hit the ball over the last couple of days. Some bad weather is coming in tomorrow as well, so that should put a premium on ball striking and hitting it in the fairways and on the greens. So if I can do that and just see a couple go in, then hopefully it’s a different story,” he added.

That’s something similar to what he said about his opening round. He is not wrong because his driving average was 307.5 yards, and he ranked ninth in the field. This is way more than the tournament average of just 285.2 yards. On top of that, if McIlroy can maintain the off-the-tee accuracy on Moving Day, he will certainly have one less thing to take care of.

If he can pair his strong ball-striking with more confidence on the greens over the weekend, he could still make a serious push up the leaderboard.