Rory McIlroy was left angry and embarrassed after fluffing a shot off the tee at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The Northern Irishman started his second round at Bay Hill looking to build on his two-under par 70 on the opening day.

That left three shots adrift of American leader Wyndham Clark. However, it all went wrong for him in his approach to the green at the par-three second hole. With a distance of 231 yards to the flag, the 35-year-old produced an effort more associated with an amateur hacker, fluffing his drive just 180 yards. 

The footage that followed left nothing to the imagination. Sky Sports cameras instantly panned to the face of the world No.2, with his expression a mixture of bemusement and disgust.

It left him with an extremely difficult up-and-down to try and save par. Although his chip shot did land on the green, McIlroy’s putt slid by the hole, meaning he dropped a shot as his bid to hunt down Clark got off to a nightmare start.

Despite being some way below his mercurial best, McIlroy continued to fight to stay in the running. With five holes of his round to play he had battled back to be three-under par overall, five shots off new leader Shane Lowry.

The awful tee shot wasn’t the first time that the four-time major winner has vented his frustration this week. On the 18th on Thursday, he loudly shouted “F*** off” after driving his ball into the rough.

He went on to make a bogey five, with Sky apologising to viewers who would have heard the bad language. For McIlroy, the tournament has come in the same week he was eliminated from the TGL in its inaugural season.

Despite playing alongside Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, and Hideki Matsuyama, McIlroy’s Boston team could only muster a single point in five matches. However, he reacted by praising the impact of the TGL and insisted he would be reentering next season.