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26th August 2016
11:48am BST

Starting on the back-9 yesterday, Rory suffered back to back bogeys at 15 & 16 before pulling them back in his closing holes. He currently lies 5 back from Patrick Reed who leads on -5, but McIlroy's opening 71 isn’t likely to do much for his confidence.
He finished his round with a depressing -2.304 strokes gained from putting and had several misses from close range. With just three putts out of eight from the 4-8 foot range dropping, the stats speak for themselves. It might be time for McIlroy to find himself a putting coach.
Currently one of the only players on tour without a short-game coach, McIlroy's troubles on the green don’t seem to be something which he can fix himself. Although he’s always stated that he prefers to practice alone with mirrors to help with his alignment, some help from former coach Dave Stockton must be the only feasible step to take at this point.
On Tuesday, McIlroy also said he's going to be patient switching equipment companies in the wake of Nike Golf exiting the golf club business.
"No reason to start changing just because I can. I'm comfortable with everything," McIlroy said. "I've got them to save me three years' worth of golf balls, so at least I've got a golf ball that I like and that I know that I can play well with.
This should also include using a Scotty for the foreseeable future. But his putting will have to be much improved if he wants to have any chance of challenging this weekend.
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