Rory McIlroy's Wells Fargo Championship hopes derailed by chipping nightmare

Rory McIlroy’s hopes of celebrating his 30th birthday weekend in style came crashing down at the Wells Fargo Championship as a chipping nightmare derailed his final-round challenge.

McIlroy began the day two off Max Homa’s lead and looking for his third title at Quail Hollow. But after eight straight pars - including a three-putt par on the par five seventh - the errors started to rack up. 

He three-putted the ninth to fall back to eight-under and then suffered the awful double-bogey seven on the 10th. McIlroy was less than 50 feet away from the pin in two, but, remarkably, took five to get down.

He fluffed two chips into the bank and watched in horror as they both rolled back to his feet. McIlroy finally managed to get it to within six feet on his third attempt, but to compound the misery he missed the putt.

There was a birdie two on the 13th, when McIlroy conjured his tee-shot to three feet, but on the 14th he pulled his drive into the water. When the horn sounded for a weather delay, McIlroy had spiralled into a tie for 12th and found himself eight behind leader Homa.