(CNN) -- Three starts and three missed cuts. Rory McIlroy has a lot of hard work to do before he begins the defense of his U.S. Open title later this month.
The world's No. 2 golfer crashed out of weekend contention at the PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament after a second-round 79 on Friday that left him 12 shots behind halfway leader Rory Sabbatini of South Africa.
"I don't feel like the scores are actually reflecting how I'm hitting the ball," the Northern Irishman told reporters. "I was able to string nine good holes together yesterday.
"I just need to keep working on it and try and string 18 good holes together and then try and string two days together and obviously three days and ultimately four.
Rickie Fowler, one of golf's most colorful characters, celebrates his first PGA Tour title at Quail Hollow, where he won in a playoff against 2010 champion Rory McIlroy and D.A. Points.
Fowler's first PGA Tour title
Fifteen-year-old Lydia Ko is the youngest LPGA Tour winner in history courtesy of her win at the Canadian Women's Open. She was just 14 when she triumphed at the the New South Wales Open in January 2012, becoming the youngest player to win a professional tournament. She clinched the U.S. Amateur Championship two weeks ago.
Golf's young prodigies
Luke Donald never recovered from an opening round of four-over 75 at Harbour Town Golf Links.
McIlroy reclaims top ranking from Donald
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"But I hit some good shots out there. I'm definitely hitting the ball better than I did last week, so I can see an improvement there. But I've still got a long way to go."
The last time McIlroy missed three cuts in a row was in 2008 as a 19-year-old playing on the European Tour.
He has committed to the U.S. circuit this year and next week will play the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, a tournament he added to his schedule only after his second-round 79 at the European Tour's flagship PGA Championship last weekend.
After Memphis comes the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco for the second major tournament of the golf season.
'Mentally fatigued' Mickelson withdraws from Memorial
The event's course layouts are notoriously testing, but Luke Donald -- who has swapped the No. 1 ranking regularly with McIlroy this year -- believes the 23-year-old is close to regaining the form that has led many pundits to describe him as the next Tiger Woods.
"He's obviously frustrated -- this game does that to you," the Englishman said.
"He's not far away. He made a couple of careless errors, but I'm sure once he posts one solid run of maybe a couple of rounds or a tournament this will be a blur and he'll forget about it quickly."
Donald, who played the first two rounds at the Memorial's Muirfield Village with McIlroy, was six shots behind Sabbatini in a tie for 27th after a 73 on Friday.
Sabbatini, seeking his seventh PGA Tour title after a poor start to 2012, had a one-shot lead after carding a second successive 69.
That scored was matched by Woods, who is hoping to tie Jack Nicklaus on 73 wins at a course designed by the "Golden Bear."
Woods was tied for second with fellow Americans Spencer Levin (72) and Scott Stallings (73) on five-under 139 overall.
"The things that I'm supposed to be doing for the past few tournaments, I was able to do," said Woods, who has struggled in his past three starts since ending his long wait for a 72nd title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in late March. However, he has never missed successive cuts in his professional career.
"This is the way that I hit the ball at Bay Hill and the way I hit it at the end of last year. That's what's exciting about it," Woods added.
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Fowler holds the Wells Fargo Championship trophy alongside his mother Lynne (letf) and girlfriend Alexandra Brown.
The 23-year-old wished his close friend Bubba Watson had been there to help celebrate. Fowler was on the green when Watson won his first major at the Masters in April, but the left-hander has played only one tournament since then as he is spending time with his newly-adopted son.
McIlroy (left) won at Quail Hollow in 2010 for his first PGA Tour victory, but lost out to Fowler in the rookie of the year award.
They played together for the first two rounds at last year's Masters, where McIlroy suffered a final-day collapse before winning his first major at the U.S. Open two months later.
They were paired again at the next major, the British Open at Royal St. George's -- where Fowler tied for fifth and McIlroy was 25th.
The duo's rivalry goes back to their amateur days, with Fowler helping the U.S. to beat Great Britain and Ireland in the 2007 Walker Cup on McIlroy's home soil at the Royal County Down Golf Club.
Guan Tian-Lang, 13, made history as the youngest player at a European Tour event when he teed off at his home China Open in April 2012.
However, he could not better the achievement of Jason Hak, who was 14 when he became the youngest player to make the halfway cut at a European Tour event at the 2008 Hong Kong Open.
Thompson is the youngest player to win on the European Ladies' Tour. Here she receives her trophy at the Dubai Ladies Masters on December 17, 2011.
Rory McIlroy replaced Donald as No. 1 despite a disappointing showing at the Masters in his last tournament. He spent this week with his girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki in Copenhagen.
Carl Pettersson of Sweden won the RBC Heritage by five shots from Zach Johnson for his fifth PGA Tour title.
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