Rory McIlroy Misses Cut with 12-Over Par at 2013 British Open

Rory McIlroy's 2013 British Open is over before we hit the weekend. 

The 24-year-old Northern Irishman missed the cut at the year's third major after firing rounds of 79 and 75 to finish at 12-over par and fall well below the cut line of plus-eight. 

McIlroy wasn't right from the start of this tournament, and that did not improve over the first two days. 

This picture, and the following tweet by Golf Digest's Dan Jenkins, do a nice job of summing up The Open Championship for McIlroy: 

McIlroy looked completely lost during his two rounds. He didn't have the usual pep in his step, and his body language was terrible. He battled, but he had no control of his ball flight.

As a result, he suffered his worst 36 holes, in relation to par, in major-tournament history, per Justin Ray of ESPN Stats and Info: 

He admitted that he is not in the right place mentally. The following quotes followed his poor first round, per Golf Digest's Alex Myers:

This result is a huge setback for McIlroy, as he tries to get his 2013 on track. 

McIlroy began the year as the world's No. 1 golfer, and he is still searching for his first tournament victory of the season. He does have four top 10s, which includes a second at the Texas Open. However, after a solid stretch of golf, he's taken a giant step back. 

Following his second-place finish, Rory finished 25th at the Masters, 10th at the Wells Fargo Championship and eighth at The Players Championship. At that point, it looked like Rory was ready to kick it into high gear. 

However, he has gone the other direction. His latest results include a 41st in the U.S. Open and a 96th at the Irish Open.

Given his recent performances and his history at the British Open, this outcome is not all that shocking. 

Despite hailing from Ireland, McIlroy is not all that great on links courses. He features a high-lofted style that is punished in the winds. Other than a third in 2010, McIlroy has never found much success in the British Open. 

Although, he had never found this much failure, either. 

He was 60th at the British last year, tied for 25th in 2011, 47th in 2009 and 42nd in 2007. 

McIlroy's struggles as of late have largely come due to his short game. While it is looking like a lost season for McIlroy, he has shown before that he can quickly snap out of a funk. 

Rory will now try and turn his game around in time for the year's final major: the PGA Championship.