Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry playing catch-up in Canada as Leona Maguire misses cut at US Open

Scottish Ryder Cup player MacIntyre shot 66 and the powerful New Zealander Fox a brilliant 64 to lead by two shots on 10-under from Joel Dahmen at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

But an out-of-sorts McIlroy couldn’t reproduce the bogey-free 66 of Thursday and fell from tenth to tied 30th on two-under.

Struggling to find his rhythm, he had to make an 18-footer for an opening par but bogeyed the seventh and dropped another shot at the 10th when he spun his 77-yard wedge off the green and back down the fairway.

He got a shot back with a chip and putt birdie at the 12th but bogeyed the 214-yard 13th after a pulled tee shot before finishing with five pars.

The string of pars included a 28-footer at the 18th where he hit an iron off the tee but found a deep fairway bunker.

But he now has his work cut out to catch Fox, MacIntyre and MacIntyre’s dad, Dougie, who is on the bag for the Scottish left-hander this week.

MacIntyre is between caddies, but after three top-15s in his last five starts, including a tie for eighth at the PGA Championship at Valhalla, he’s also playing well, and his father jumped at the chance to carry the bag.

Meanwhile, a two-under back nine helped Shane Lowry card a two-under 68 and go into the weekend tied for 55th on level par, ten shots off the pace.

But there was no joy for Seamus Power, who battled his way back to level par with birdie fours at the 17th and fourth (his 13th), only to rack up a triple bogey seven at the 339-yard fifth, where he was in trouble left from the tee.

He signed for a 71 to miss the cut by three shots for his fourth missed cut from 14 starts this season.

Elsewhere, Leona Maguire joined amateur Aine Donegan in exiting the US Women’s Open after a nightmare three-hole stretch cost her five shots and undid all her hard work in Pennsylvania.

The Co Cavan star signed for a seven-over 77 to miss the cut by two shots on 10-over par alongside world number one Nelly Korda at Lancaster Country Club.

On a day when Co Clare amateur Donegan had 39 putts (including five three-putts) in an 83 to finish on 19-over, Maguire also had her problems on the difficult Lancaster greens.

Starting on the back nine, she battled to the turn in one over, making birdies at the 13th and 17th against bogeys at the 10th, 15th and 16th.

The two-time LPGA winner was just a shot outside the top 20 on four-over heading for home.

But back-to-back double bogeys at the third and fourth, followed by further dropped shots at the fifth and eighth, scuppered her hopes.

The trouble started when she went from a fairway to a greenside bunker at the 408-yard third and faced a five-footer for par.

But she three-putted from there, walking off with a double bogey six before she hit her tee shot into the water at the 348-yard fourth and made another double bogey six.

Inevitably, another shot went at the fifth, where she chipped five feet above the hole and failed to make the return putt and while she needed to play the last four holes in one-under to make the cut, another shot went at the par-three eighth.

The Ballyconnell battler wasn’t the only high-profile casualty, as Korda followed her opening 80 with a 70 to join her in missing out on 10-over.

Lexi Thompson, who announced this week she’ll retire at the end of the season, finished three shots further back after a 75 with Rose Zhang, defending champion Allisen Corpuz, as well as major champions Brooke Henderson and Patty Tavatanakit also heading for home.