July 10 (Reuters) - Scottie Scheffler left himself in unfamiliar territory as his nearly four-year streak of making cuts came to an end on Friday at the Scottish Open where Rory McIlroy was in hot pursuit of clubhouse leaders Jordan Smith and Tom Kim.
World number one Scheffler, in his final start ahead of his title defence at next week's British Open, carded a two-over-par 72 at The Renaissance Club that left him at even par on the week in North Berwick and outside the projected cut of two under.
"I got off to a tough start and back nine, just felt like I wasn't hitting it close enough to give myself enough opportunities. I think that's really kind of what it comes down to," said Scheffler.
"Got off to a poor start and after that, I didn't really hit it close enough to give myself a bunch of looks."
The last time Scheffler missed the cut was 78 events and 1,428 days ago at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship, according to the PGA Tour. The new leader for consecutive cuts made on the PGA Tour is Matt Fitzpatrick, who is at 28.
It marked the second missed cut in four starts at The Renaissance Club for Scheffler, who will head to Royal Birkdale in Southport for the year's final major sooner than he and the rest of the golf world had expected.
"This week for me is a week that I really wanted to play well, and this week is a golf course I feel like I can play well on. I just haven't for some reason," said Scheffler.
"It could be one of those things where you just get over jet-lag, get used to new style of golf, new types of grasses, and maybe I just haven't adjusted as quick, or maybe this golf course just doesn't suit my eye much."
Englishman Smith produced a stellar display of ball-striking and wielded a red-hot putter to mix eight birdies with a lone bogey for a 63 that brought him to nine under on the week and gave him the clubhouse lead until he was joined by Kim, who birdied two of his final three holes for a 66. Fitzpatrick (65) was a shot back.
Northern Ireland's McIlroy also made a fast start to the second round with four birdies before the turn and after a back-nine bogey was at eight under on the week with five holes left to play in his second round.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in TorontoEditing by Christian Radnedge)
