Shane Lowry hit five straight pars to leave himself eight shots off US Masters leader Brooks Koepka as the weather-delayed second round came to a close at Augusta on Saturday morning.
That left Lowry in a tie for tenth with the late stragglers still to come home, including Spain's Jon Raham who moved to 10-under-par on the resumption – two shots off the lead – with two holes remaining.
Seamus Power will also be around for the weekend after a second-round 72 ,while Tiger Woods looked set to be granted a late reprieve as the cut line moved out to three-over par in the final stages.
Rory McIlroy had no such luck though as Saturday morning's action confirmed that his five-over total was nowhere near good enough to extend his stay in Georgia.
Offaly man Lowry sits on four-under-par after a second round 72 as he completed a couple of neat late up and downs to avoid bogeys as the rain came in.
After going well right on the 17th, Lowry’s approach kicked right off the fringe and rolled to the back of the green. His long-range putt came up six feet short, but his par effort caught the right edge and dropped.
Lowry was in prime position on the 18th but his second shot came up short and very nearly rolled into the bunker, much to the player’s bemusement. He made amends with a polished dink approach to ensure a seventh straight par.
Power will also be around for the weekend, but a closing bogey left him one over for the tournament and in a tie for 40th.
The Waterford native had six holes to complete on Saturday morning and after a par at 13 he moved even par for the tournament at the 14th hole after sinking 12-foot putt.
Three pars would follow before that closing bogey when his approach mirrored Lowry's and kicked right towards the bunker, only Power did find the sand. His third shot from the bunker came up well short leaving a two-foot putt to avoid a double, which he managed to hole.
For McIlroy, Saturday’s early action only confirmed what he already knew – that the career Grand Slam would have to wait for another year at least, with the cut projected set to finish at either two- or three-over-par.
McIlroy struggled to a hugely disappointing second round of 77 on Friday to finish five over par and declined to speak to waiting reporters.
Amateur Matthew McClean will miss out on the weekend action where he carded a second round 74 to sit on seven-over par.
The Belfast native fell to a double bogey at 14 after misjudging his chip onto the green, while birdies at 3, 9 and 13 were cancelled out by dropped shots at the second, 10th and par-four 17th.
McIlroy's hopes of playing his way back into contention following an opening 72 suffered a massive blow with bogeys on the second and third on Friday.
The four-time major winner flew his approach to the par-five second over the green and then hit two clumsy chips on the third before falling victim to a fiendish pin position on the sixth, where he hit his long, uphill birdie putt 12 feet past the hole and missed the return.
McIlroy’s miserable day continued as he clipped a tree with an attempted recovery shot on the seventh and found water with his approach to the 11th to drop a shot on each hole.
And, although he birdied the 13th and 15th to get within touching distance of the cut line, bogeys on the 16th and 18th ended any hopes.
Four-time major winner Koepka took full advantage of ideal early conditions on Friday to post a flawless 67 for a halfway total of 12-under-par, the joint-third lowest in tournament history alongside LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman.
Koepka, who won the most recent 54-hole LIV event in Orlando on Sunday, had quickly moved into the outright lead with a birdie on the second and followed a run of five pars with an eagle from 13 feet on the eighth.
Further birdies followed on the 13th and 15th, both par fives, as Koepka cruised into pole position to claim his fifth major title and a first since the 2019 US PGA Championship.
However, while Koepka was out on the course, an incident from his first round continued to be debated after TV footage appeared to show his caddie Ricky Elliott saying "five" to playing partner Gary Woodland's caddie on the 15th.
If that was deemed to have been advice on which club Koepka had just hit into the par five it would be a breach of the rules, but the pair were quickly cleared of any wrongdoing by tournament officials.
"I think what they said was they were signalling to somebody else or he (Elliott) was signalling to somebody of what it was," Koepka said. "It wasn’t Butchy (Woodland’s caddie Brennan Little).
"They asked us what we hit walking down the fairway, so they had no idea."
Koepka also said officials reviewed footage of him removing his glove in a manner which meant his hand could indicate the number five, adding: "I don’t know if you’re supposed to take your glove off with your fist closed or what now.
"The last thing I’m going to do is give it to Gary Woodland, the US Open champ.
"And the funny part about it is I think if he would have known we were hitting five, he would have hit six because I don’t think Gary is that short and he’s 10 in front of me, 12 yards in front of me?"
Speaking after his second round of 72, Woodland said: "At the end of the day, Brooks hit his shot on 15. I asked Butchy if he saw what he hit. He said no.
"When we were walking down, I asked Brooks what he hit, and he said five. If I would have known that, I probably would have hit six iron and I would have hit six iron in the middle of the water.
"At the end of the day I didn’t hear anything or I didn’t see anything. My caddie didn’t hear anything or see anything either."
Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, speaking on Thursday evening in his role as an analyst for Golf Channel, felt the television footage had been clear.
"It’s very obvious… it’s staggering that they’ve denied it because the evidence is there," McGinley said.
"This is common practice on tour. Whether you like it or not, it happens in every professional tournament around the world.
"If the authorities want to stamp this out (they would) really come down on this and make an example of it, and obviously they haven’t. They’ve chosen not to do that and it looked very clearly the evidence was against them."
