Rory McIlroy rues hacker-like 2nd-round scores ahead of 2014 British Open

If Rory McIlroy can somehow relieve himself of the second-round hiccups that have afflicted his season, the two-time major champion just might lift the claret jug at Hoylake come Sunday.

A day after setting a short-lived course-record 7-under 64 at Royal Aberdeen in the first round of last week’s Scottish Open (Felipe Aguilar smashed the three-day mark with a 63 in the finale), McIlroy barely made the cut when he carded a ghastly 78 on Friday. That type of roller-coaster scoring is unlikely to cut it when he goes up against a surging Justin Rose, who hopes to pull a Phil Mickelson and go back-to-back at the Scottish and British Opens, a returning Tiger Woods, and the rest of the best in the world starting Thursday at the British Open.

Wildly inconsistent play is an issue that has not escaped the former world No. 1.

“Yeah, it does [seem to be a recurring problem]. One that I’d like to stop this week,” McIlroy told reporters Tuesday ahead of the Open Championship at Hoylake. “It’s more I just got it into my head, and I may be putting a bit too much pressure on myself, going out on Fridays and trying to back up a good score.”

McIlroy, who has six top-10 finishes in 10 PGA Tour events this season, has gotten off to strong starts several times only to derail his victory train the next day. That was especially true at the WGC-HSBC Champions in November, where he carded an opening 65 and a second-round 72; the Wells Fargo Championship in May (69, 76); and the Memorial (63, 78).

“I have no problem shooting a low one on Thursday, so there’s no reason why I should have any problem shooting a low one on Friday,” said McIlroy, who won the Australian Open in December and the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour in May. “I think it just got into my head. It’s just something I need to go out and pretend like it’s a Thursday again ... Hopefully this week I can start to turn that second-round thing around.”

While he could blame heavy winds for his most recent Friday fiasco -- and has in the past complained about typical American football weather found on the links of the U.K. -- the breezes did not affect him in the opener, when he seemed to serve notice on the Royal Liverpool field that he was ready to thwart Mickelson’s attempt to defend his title.

“I feel I am as prepared as I have ever been to play this type of golf,” he proclaimed after his first-round birdie fest (eight in all) in Scotland.

McIlroy’s new-found love for links golf stood in stark contrast to the sentiments he expressed at the 2011 British Open at Royal St. George’s, where he finished T25. Back then, the lad from Northern Ireland professed his preference for weather more like that found in Florida, where he would soon relocate.

“I’m not a fan of golf tournaments that the outcome is predicted so much by the weather,” McIlroy said after incurring a one-stroke penalty in the final round when the wind caused his ball to move on the green once he had addressed it. “It’s not my sort of golf.”

After Thursday’s 64, however, McIlroy was ready to embrace the elements he left behind for the warmer climes of the Sunshine State.

“I’m going to make it my favorite style for two weeks a year,” he said, laughing and adding that he was “relishing the challenge” of battling the wet and windy weather.

Closing with 68-67 for a T14 finish did little to dampen McIlroy’s enthusiasm for this week’s competition.

“To play some links golf on a real, true links test has been fantastic,” he said about his Royal Aberdeen experience. “I’m definitely glad that I came and even though it’s not the result that I wanted, it’s been a great exercise in terms of preparation for next week.”