2014 Memorial golf tournament: Rory McIlroy tumbles down the leaderboard with a 78

When Rory McIlroy finished his first round of the Memorial Tournament on Thursday, he appeared to be in his best form since at least 2012. Coming off his strong win at the BMW PGA Championship, McIlroy blistered Muirfield Village with a 9-under round of 63. He was 23-under in his last five rounds of competitive golf with off-the-course issues and knee and back pain apparently unable to deter him from posting red numbers. By the time he walked off the course on Friday, he previous five rounds were a distant memory.

McIlroy ran into early trouble in his second round, starting the day with a bogey. That was nothing, however, compared to the stretch from No. 13 to No. 15. McIlroy’s second shot on the 13th clipped a tree and caromed back into the rough. He made it two straight in the trees when he clipped another branch on his third shot. He would eventually go on to make a double bogey.

That proved to be a sign of things to come. His approach shot at the 14th found the water, and a poor chip led to a second straight double bogey.

McIlroy ran into more issues on the par-5 15th when he double-hit a shot out of the bunker. The ball remained in the bunker and he was unable to get up-and-down, leading to a third straight double bogey.

Just like that, McIlroy was 6-over on the round. While he fared better on his second nine, he wasn’t able to dig out of the early hole and finished with a 6-over 78 to drop to 3-under for the tournament. Second-round issues are nothing new for McIlroy this season. Coming into the Memorial, his stroke average in the second round was 73.4, nearly four strokes worse than in any other round. He’s now shot 74 or worse 10 times on the Tour this season, six of which came in the second round.

McIlroy began the day three strokes ahead of the field, but finished it nine strokes off the lead.

That lead is held by Paul Casey at 12-under. Casey fired a second straight 66 to move into double-digit red figures. As he did on Thursday, Casey carded six birdies, an eagle and two bogeys. He’ll begin the third round with a three-stroke lead over Bubba Watson. Watson would have been closer to the lead if not for some issues coming in. He eagled the 15th hole to move to 11-under. Back-to-back bogeys at No. 17 and No. 18 denied any chance he had to take or tie the 36-hole lead.

With the course playing more difficult in the second round than it did on Thursday, the cut line settled at even par. Rickie Fowler was just on the wrong side of the line, finishing at 1-over and missing the cut. Justin Rose also finished 1-over and will miss the weekend.

Here is a complete look at the leaderboard through 36 holes: