Rory McIlroy’s struggles continued on Friday at Carton House, as his Irish Open campaign came to an abrupt halt. He cut a dejected figure after completing a second round of 72, which added to his Thursday total of 74, and saw the 24-year-old miss the cut in Kildare. It is another disappointing chapter in what has proved to be a frustrating 2013 thus far for McIlroy, as he searches for the form that saw him lift the PGA Championship last August and ascend to the top of the world rankings.

Following that two-over-par total on Thursday, he required an under-par round to make the cut, and early on it looked as though that was on the cards, after he opened with a birdie at the first. But he continually undermined any positive momentum by making costly bogeys, often at the following hole. Such inconsistency in a round has been the hallmark of his frustrating year, and his two days in Ireland have almost typified the state of Rory’s game in recent months.

"It's disappointing, I was just disappointed more with how I played yesterday, I actually felt like I played a bit better today," said McIlroy. "When I missed a green I didn't really get up and down and didn't hole many putts, but ball striking wise it was a little bit better today.”

Nine bogeys would illustrate his point of not getting up and down on a regular basis. He isn’t taking advantage of his good shots to the extent that he normally would at is best, and he is not recovering from the poor shots that every player needs to do in order to maintain momentum in a round.

However, despite missing the cut, he intends to stay in Ireland in order to try and find some good form: "I'll probably still be here over the weekend and practice but it's not nice to not be out there competing and obviously trying to win a tournament at the weekend."

A the beginning of the year, McIlroy’s lucrative equipment change to Nike drew scrutiny, and his form since with the new clubs hasn’t alleviated the concerns that many observers raised at the time. However, Rory himself doesn’t believe his form is in issue with the equipment itself, but more his mental approach to using them on the course:

"I think it's more of a trust issue," he said. "I guess as well on the range you get more than one chance, on the golf course you've only got one chance to hit the shot and you've got to make most of it.”

Typically, Rory remained positive about his game, with The Open Championship a mere three weeks away: "But there were definitely a few good signs out there today so I'll just do a good bit of work over the next couple of weeks and try and get ready for the Open."

It should always be remembered that McIlroy suffered from similar poor form twelve months ago, as he struggled throughout May and June last year. Much criticism was levelled at him then, but answered those critics abruptly with his stunning eight-shot victory at the PGA Championship in August.

McIlroy is capable of bursting back into form at any time. The evidence is there to prove that, and it’s something that the world number two is more than aware of:

"It's fine, I just need to work on my game, keep doing the right things out there, keep putting the work in. And if I can do that, then it should turn around at some point, whether that's in a couple of weeks or further down the line we'll see."

Rory McIlroy will return to form at some point. As he concedes himself, there is no way you an accurately project when it will happen, but it will. It’s a case of when, rather than if Rory finds his best game again.

However, with Muirfield less than three weeks away, he’ll need to find it soon if he wishes to see his name engraved on the Claret Jug this year.