Rory McIlroy was put out of his Muirfield misery on Friday with the struggling Northern Irishman saying he would play as much as he can over the next few weeks to try to turn around his abysmal golf season.
The former world No.1 carded a second-round 75 at the British Open – four strokes better than his opening 79 – but nowhere near enough to survive the cut in the year’s third major.
It is the first time he has missed out in The Open in six attempts, although he has only finished in the top 20 once – at St Andrews in 2010 when he tied for third behind Louis Oosthuizen.
Still, McIlroy sounded more upbeat than he was on Thursday when he described his state of mind out on the course as “unconscious” or “brain dead”.
He took some comfort from the fact that he stayed on par on Muirfield’s testing last nine holes at a time when others were shedding strokes.
“Disappointed, but I guess I have a clearer picture of what I need to work on and what I need to do to put things right,” he said.
“Sometimes, this game can feel further away than it actually is. And obviously, at the end of yesterday, it couldn’t have felt much further away.
“And today, you played the last 11 holes like that – you see some positive signs. And you try and sort of take anything you can from that.”
Much has been made of McIlroy’s change of equipment at the start of the year and his high-profile romance with Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki.
But McIlroy insists the real reason for his struggles is more complex than that.
“I don’t know if I can single out one thing. I think it’s been a combination of things, to be honest,” he said.
“I think the schedule hasn’t been quite right – swing hasn’t been quite right. And a combination of those has led to, I guess, sloppy play.
“Because whenever you’re swinging it well and you’re confident, you can take a couple of weeks off, go to the next event and play and you’re okay.
“But I think when I am struggling with my game, I think it’s better to play my way out of it and that’s something I haven’t really done this year.”
McIlroy will switch back to the US Tour to begin the build-up to his PGA title defence at Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester.
That will start at the Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio – a course he enjoys playing.