Rory McIlroy's pursuit of the Tour Championship title encountered a significant hurdle Friday when a costly double bogey on the third hole of the second round dropped him down the leaderboard.

McIlroy was at 2-under par when he approached the third hole at East Lake. His initial chip shot, intended to land on the green from 115 yards out, came up short and rolled back toward his feet. He then repeated the error with a nearly identical second chip, which also failed to reach the green.

The sequence led to a double bogey, significantly hindering his standing in the tournament and his bid for the $10 million first-place prize.

"Unbelievable, you just have to err long, especially when it’s your second time," an announcer observed on the ESPN+ broadcast. "To get cute twice in a row, now you’ve got the same shot."

ESPN analyst Andy North commented on the golfer's performance, stating, "It is very frustrating. He’s such a talented player. When he’s on, there’s maybe nobody better than him. He just hits so many quality shots but you can’t keep short-siding yourself, you can’t keep making mistakes with wedges. You look at the difference between the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world, Scottie [Scheffler] doesn’t make a lot of forced mistakes like Rory does."

This setback follows a mixed performance in the PGA Tour playoffs for McIlroy. He finished 66th out of 68 competitors at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. The following week, at the BMW Championship, he was tied for the lead with Wyndham Clark before bogeying the 17th hole while Clark birdied the final three holes to secure the victory.

"Obviously didn’t come in here with a ton of reps," McIlroy said after the St. Jude Championship. "[It] almost felt like the more the week went on, the more I felt lost with my golf swing a little bit. The swing wasn’t in sync and obviously I didn’t do a ton of practice coming in here. I’m so far away from where I need to be to even feel like I have a chance. I’ve just got to keep working and hope it turns around a little bit."

McIlroy, 37, has played a reduced schedule this year, citing a desire to prioritize family. Despite this, his season included a notable victory, as he won his second consecutive Masters in April. Min Woo Lee held the lead at 8-under after the first round of the Tour Championship, which concludes the PGA Tour season.