World number one Rory McIlroy was packing his bags for another early exit from the Players Championship after a four-over-par 76 left him facing a near-certain missed cut.
The 23-year-old missed the cut in his two previous appearances at TPC Sawgrass and has never broken par in a round at the challenging venue.
"It's unbelievable. I shoot 14-under last week and I feel like I hit it just the same this week, and I'm going home," said McIlroy, who lost in a playoff at Quail Hollow last week.
"But you know, I'm not getting down on myself about it. I played well last week, and I've got a big part of the season coming up and looking forward to that."
McIlroy, who started on the back nine, opened his round with a birdie on the par-four ninth hole but five bogeys the rest of the way highlighted his lack of comfort on a course that demands precise golf.
He has a two-day total of 148 with the cut projected to fall at even-par 144.
"Off the tee I find it pretty difficult around here. You have really got to position your ball in the fairway and give yourself a chance to get to some of these pins. I just didn't do that over the last couple of days," said McIlroy.
McIlroy conceded that the design of the course made him play in a way he would not normally do.
"A little bit, but I've played golf courses in the past that forced me to do that as well and I've done well on those," said McIlroy. "There is something about this place I just can't get to grips with."
McIlroy skipped the tournament last year and prior to this week's Player Championship - an event widely regarded as golf's unofficial fifth major - he described that decision as not one of his "brightest."
But he had hoped his 2011 US Open triumph and rise to the top of the world rankings would have helped him improve on his past failures here.
"I've come back a much better player, I feel. A much more consistent, experienced player," he said. "I felt like I would come here and think my way around the golf course and just try to play steady golf. I tried to do that and it just didn't happen."
But despite his frustrations McIlroy said he was not going to give up on the challenge of mastering the course.
"I am sure I will. I mean, hopefully, I'm coming back here for another 20 years. If I don't figure it out on my 20th go, there's something wrong," he joked.
"It's just a course that you have to figure out and it's taken me a while. I'll come back next year, my fourth attempt, and try to make it to the weekend."
