McIlroy withdraws from RBC Heritage event

Rory McIlroy's hopes of completing the career Grand Slam evaporated as he missed the cut at the Masters

Rory McIlroy has withdrawn from this week's RBC Heritage PGA Tour event at Hilton Head in South Carolina.

McIlroy was making a ninth attempt to complete the career Grand Slam at Augusta but rounds of 72 and 75 saw him miss the cut by two shots.

The RBC Heritage is among the PGA Tour's designated events.

Players ranked in the top 20 of the Tour's Player Impact Program are only allowed to skip one of the designated events and McIlroy already sat out of the season-opening Sentry Tournament of Champions in January.

This week's second absence from a designated event could potentially cost McIlroy his bonus money from the Player Impact Program, which is handed out at the end of the PGA Tour season.

Former world number one Jason Day also pulled out of this week's event on Monday.

McIlroy, 33, won the last of his four majors in 2014 and triumphing at the Masters would have seen him become only the sixth man to complete the career Grand Slam.

The Northern Irishman went into the Augusta event with four wins on the PGA Tour in the past 10 months and many felt this would finally be the year when he achieved golfing immortality.

The scale of McIlroy's disappointment following his missed cut was made clear by his rare refusal to do any post-round interviews.