The 42 reports from Quail Hollow Golf Club

RORY MCILROY SNUCK inside the cut line at the 2025 PGA Championship despite a bogey-bogey finish at Quail Hollow on Friday, but all of Shane Lowry, Seamus Power, and Pádraig Harrington missed the cut. 

McIlroy made the cut on the number at one-over par, with Lowry and Harrington agonisingly missing out on two-over par. Power finished further back on four-over. 

Making the cut along with McIlroy is his Holywood clubmate Tom McKibbin, who followed yesterday’s round of one-under with an even par round of 71. 

Starting the day at three-over par, McIlroy played a greatly improved front nine, birdieing holes two, seven and eight, making the turn at three-under for his round, and one-under for the tournament. 

He picked up another birdie on 10 before making his first significant errors on 11 and 12, bogeying both. McIlroy three-putted 11 and then went left and out of position off the 12th tee, the error that dogged his poor opening round yesterday.

McIlroy nonetheless bounced back with birdies at 14 and 15, and was one-under for the tournament and harbouring thoughts of making a weekend dash for the title when he foundered on the closing two holes. 

He lost concentration on the 17th green, missing from three feet having already watched playing partner Scottie Scheffler inexplicably lip out from the same position. That left McIlroy needing to make no worse than bogey on the fiendish closing hole to make the cut, and the omens were malign when he blew his tee shot miles left, to the point it kicked off a grandstand but fell into the bank of the creek, rather than getting wet. 

McIlroy could thus reach the green without needing a penalty drop, and managed to get down for bogey to sign for a 69 that ought to have been much better. It will leave him with an early tee time on Saturday morning and nine shots off leader Jhonattan Vegas. 

Remarkably, McIlroy ranked 152nd of 154 players in the field for driving accuracy over the first two days of the tournament.

McIlroy at least made the weekend, with Lowry cut at a major championship for the first time since the 2023 Open. He ultimately signed for an even-par 71, his early momentum stalled by a brutal break on the eighth hole when his ball found the fairway before kicking into a separate pitch mark. Lowry was thus denied a free drop, and had to gouge his embedded ball out of the fairway. He made a maddening bogey, flipping a middle finger at his ball as he walked off the green, having already exclaimed, “fuck this place.” 

Lowry birdied the 12th but made bogey on 16, and while he endured the tough closing pair of holes in even par, it wasn’t enough to make the weekend. Lowry was within the cut mark when he was playing the final hole, and thus felt comfortable making par, but the line had moved to exclude him by the time he was walking back to the clubhouse. 

“I got nothing today. I felt I played alright but that’s everyday I play this golf course, it’s one of the only venues I’ve never played well at”, said Lowry. 

“Fourteen and 15 are key, you have to pick up at least one [shot] on those holes. I was in position both times and didn’t do it. You’re going into the last three holes fighting, I hit a poor tee shot on 16, and I felt I played the last two holes beautifully, gave myself two lovely chances. To be honest I didn’t feel I had to make birdie at the last, I thought two-over was going to be enough.” 

Harrington also finished at two-over for the tournament, but birdied two of his final three holes to give himself a chance of making the weekend. 

“It’s amazing how hard we play for an early tee time on a Saturday morning”, said Harrington. “I was struggling to make birdies out there, I am not really holing my putts. 

“The ball went miles on the range but I struggled on the golf course. I underclubbed on 12 and made a bogey, then you’re adjusting and I overclubbed. I really didn’t have a great day with clubbing, and with the greens being firm, that’s where I left a few shots out there.

“I said standing on the seventh hole, let’s do a Rory McIlroy here”, added Harrington, in reference to McIlroy’s victory at this venue in 2010, when he finished eagle-par-birdie across holes seven, eight and nine to make the cut on the number before going on to win the tournament with a supersonic weekend. 

For Harrington, it wasn’t to be, though it is an omen to which McIlroy can cling overnight. McIlroy was nine shots off the lead at one-over par back in 2010, the same position as he finds himself now. McIlroy also declined media requests after his round. 

Power, meanwhile, posted a three-over 74, his challenge foundering with a double-bogey on the par-five seventh. 

Several other big names missed the cut, including Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Aberg, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay, Cam Smith, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson. Hideki Matsyuama also missed out, which ended his run of 19-straight made cuts at majors, the longest active streak in the game prior to this week. 

Overnight leader Vegas remains two shots clear at the top, though his lead was halved with a double-bogey six on the final hole. Matthieu Pavon, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Si Woo Kim are in a tie for second place, with the latter holing out on six for a hole-in-one from 252 yards, the longest hole-in-one ever made in a major championship. 

Scottie Scheffler is a shot further back after a round of 68, and is tied at five-under with Max Homa, who matched See Woo Kim by posting a seven-under 64.

Written by Gavin Cooney and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.