FANLING, Hong Kong — World No. 1 and defending champion Rory McIlroy missed the cut at the Hong Kong Open Friday after he suffered a nightmare with the putter and double bogeyed his final hole. The US PGA champion four-putted the 10th green, his last of the tournament, to cap a frustrating two-over-par 72 round which gave him a total of five-over 145, 14 shots behind leader Michael Campbell. “I had a great start getting it to four under and in a position from which I might have even won the tournament but then it all went on the slide,” Northern Irishman McIlroy told reporters. “Now I am going to work on few things with my putter before playing in Dubai next week,” added the 23-year-old who missed the cut for the first time since the US Open in June. McIlroy knew he had to shoot low in the second round after opening with a three-over-par 73 at the Hong Kong Golf Club on Thursday, however, at the par-five third hole, his 11th of the day, he put his approach shot into a greenside bunker and after missing out on a good birdie opportunity, his charge up the leaderboard came to a halt. A putt to save par at the fourth hole lipped out, at the seventh he misjudged the speed of the green and three putted and another shot was dropped on the following green when he put his first putt six feet past the hole and failed to hole the return. The cut was set at two over par. New Zealander Campbell, who has endured a seven-year slump since winning the US Open in 2005, holds a one-shot lead over the field after seven birdies in a second-round 64 that took him to nine under for the tournament. On hearing McIlroy would not be playing the last two rounds, Campbell declared with a smile: “That makes winning the UBS Hong Kong Open a lot easier.” China's Zhang Lan-wei, Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and Swede Fredrick Andersson Hed are tied second on eight-under 132. Three share lead In Florida, Norway's Suzann Pettersen birdied the final hole Thursday and joined South Koreans So Yeon Ryu and Sun Young Yoo atop the leaderboard at the LPGA's season-ending Titleholders. Pettersen had six birdies and no bogeys in her six-under 66 at TwinEagles. Yoo got as low as nine-under, but closed her round with a double-bogey and a bogey to fall into a tie for the lead in the $1.5 million tournament. Ryu, who has already locked up Rookie of the Year honors, had seven birdies and just one bogey for her share of the lead. The top trio were one stroke in front of a quartet of players on 67: South Korea's Na Yeon Choi, Australian Lindsey Wright, France's Karine Icher and American Cristie Kerr. South Korea's Jiyai Shin was among another four players tied on 68 on the tightly bunched leaderboard. Player of the Year Stacy Lewis settled for a 70. — Agencies
