Rory McIlroy off pace at Deutsche Bank Open as Spieth misses cut

It’s almost like a bad dream.

“It’s been quite a run”, Day said, adding in an ominous note for his challengers: “I liked last week’s venue, and I like this one even more”.

But Spieth’s poor form continued as he parred the opening 12 holes and then dropped three shots over the next five before a closing birdie was little consolation.

Spieth, who is his own biggest critic, admitted his confidence is shaken. “Just not everything is exact and fine-tuned like it has been this whole year”.

“Not only was I out of it, but I was also outside the cut-line and maybe that heightened myself talk”.

Spieth came to the TPC of Boston seeking atonement for his missed cut in The Barclays last week, the first event of the FedEx Cup series. “If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have taken a week off somewhere in this stretch of tournaments”.

“I need to walk with some cockiness in my step these next two tournaments”. “Just look at today (and) I caught a lot of bad breaks”. In danger of losing his top ranking to Jordan Spieth, McIlroy is more concerned with his putting than anything else.

The world number 125 admitted after his round that he was shocked to be in such a good position having not finished in the top ten at an event since the Shell Houston Open in April. Obviously, I’ve got to deal with that tonight.

Day said Spieth’s problems appear to be more mental than physical.

Day seems to be right where he needs to be heading into the final two rounds. These past two weeks it was a weakness for me. But upstairs, we can’t read that.

But it was a day to forget for Day’s playing partner Jordan Spieth, the two-time major champion shooting eight bogeys on his way to a four-over 75 as he struggled with his short game. That’s important for bouncing back quickly from two missed cuts. After taking five shots on the par-three 11th, Slattery recovered with three birdies on the remaining holes to finish off a 4-under-par 67.

2010 Deutsche Bank Championship victor Charley Hoffman made nine birdies and one bogey in round two, en route to an 8-under 63.

McIlroy got off to an encouraging start with a birdie at the long second, but he gave the shot back after finding water at the sixth and then failed to convert a series of makeable birdie chances before his round started to unravel at the 13th. He says he’s still knocking rust off, especially with his putter. He said: “It has been a hard year”.

“I felt like I hit the ball very well”, McIlroy told reporters. Domingue played in seven games with the Coyotes last season, going 1-2-1 with a 2.73 goals-against average.