A nightmare for the Nike high-rollers as Rory ditches putter and crashes out... while Woods falls foul of rules and misses cut too

By DEREK LAWRENSON FOR MAILONLINE

Published: 16:39 EDT, 18 January 2013 | Updated: 16:39 EDT, 18 January 2013

Much more of this and by the Masters he might be down to just wearing the Nike cap.

One round at the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship was all it took for Rory McIlroy to take the Nike putter out of his bag and replace it with his old Scotty Cameron.

How they must have loved that down at Swoosh HQ — Nike 0, Titleist 1.

Which putter's that, Rory? McIlroy was without his new Nike club during the second round in Abu Dhabi

Close up: McIlroy's Scotty Cameron putter

As if the company’s new poster boy comfortably missing the cut was not bad enough, McIlroy’s playing partner, the old standard-bearer Tiger Woods, will not be around for the final two rounds either after paying the price for not knowing the rules.

Woods was assessed a two-shot penalty for wrongly taking relief from an embedded lie in sand and went from just making the weekend play to missing the cut for the first time in a regular European Tour event.

Not a great day for Nike then, and the mood was no better among representatives of the world’s local bank. To lose one member of the world’s top two brought to the desert at vast expense by HSBC could be considered unfortunate; to lose both was a marketing calamity.

The one consolation was the next highest-ranked player in the field just happens to be leading at halfway, as world No 5 Justin Rose provided more evidence that he is playing the finest golf of his career.

‘It’s one thing to tell yourself you can win tournaments, but to actually believe it is a  different kettle of fish, and it  is a very nice feeling,’ said the Englishman.

On brand: McIlroy with his new Nike Method putter during Thursday's first round in the UAE

Struggling: McIlroy hits a chip shot on the second hole during his second round in Abu Dhabi

Here's which clubs should be in Rory's bag...

Rose provided blessed relief from the tales of woe elsewhere as both Woods and McIlroy laboured to rounds of 75. At times they looked to be having a contest to see who could hit the worst drive. We’re used to seeing Tiger spray the ball, of course, but seeing McIlroy miss the fairways to the left and right, by considerable  margins, was surprising.

It’s too easy, though, to blame it all on the new Nike equipment. It is worth bearing in mind that at this tournament last year, McIlroy hit 11  fairways out of 28 over the first two days with his Titleist driver — one fewer than this year.

Playing for the first time since winning the Dubai World Tour Championship seven weeks ago, McIlroy has clearly got work to do. ‘Rory was just very keen to put all the clubs in play, knowing he then had a month before his next tournament to tweak a few things,’ said his manager Conor Ridge.

As for the eye-catching decision to change putters after just one round, McIlroy explained: ‘I had been putting great with the Nike putter in practice in America, where the greens were faster than here. But it is very light and I found I couldn’t get the ball to the hole in the first round, so changed to a heavier putter. Mind you, it didn’t work. I still putted poorly.’

The Northern Irishman will stay here for the weekend before moving down the road to Dubai next week to continue his practice. His next event is the Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona at the end of February, the first of three tournaments in a row.

‘At the end of the day, the idea is to make sure that everything is working perfectly by the time I get to the Masters,’ he said. Woods had already dropped three shots in the first four holes before matters took a further turn for the worse at the fifth, where his wild drive comfortably missed the fairway and finished embedded in sand. He called over his other playing partner Martin Kaymer and both agreed that Woods was entitled to a free drop.

In fact, both were wrong. On all the tours around the world, players are allowed a free drop from an embedded lie in anywhere but sand, and it meant a two-stroke penalty.

Frustration: McIlroy reacts to a poor tee shot as fellow Nike man Tiger Woods (left) looks on

In danger: Woods could miss the cut after a torrid start to his second round featuring four early bogeys

Woods was told the bad news by chief referee Andy McFee as he played the 11th. Typically, he rallied with three birdies in a row, but a bogey at the 17th meant he missed the cut by a stroke.

He was not happy, but had only himself to blame. It was yet another example of the curious but regularly played-out phenomenon of a top golfer not knowing the rules of his own sport. Yes, we know the rules book is ludicrously complex. But this was fairly basic stuff.

‘I am a bit surprised that neither player knew the correct procedure,’ admitted McFee.

As for the top of the leaderboard, Rose holds a one-stroke lead over Jamie Donaldson from Wales, Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and another Nike newcomer, Dane  Thorbjorn Olesen.

Toeing the line: Woods is seen using what looks like a Nike putter in Abu Dhabi this week