Rory McIlroy takes heart from near misses in bid to end major wait at 152nd Open
McIlroy is out to bounce back from his US Open disappointment.
In a 157-man field it would be a stretch to suggest all eyes will be on Rory McIlroy in the 152nd Open at Royal Troon, but maybe not much of one.
One of the game’s biggest draws at the best of times, McIlroy is arguably an even greater subject of interest at the worst of times, in this instance his agonising failure to end his long major drought in last month’s US Open.
Briefly two shots ahead on the back nine in the final round at Pinehurst, McIlroy bogeyed three of the last four holes – crucially missing short putts on the 16th and 18th – to finish a shot behind Bryson DeChambeau, who conjured a brilliant par save from a bunker on the last.
The look on McIlroy’s face as he realised his hopes of a play-off had gone were worth a thousand words, which was just as well as he left the course moments later without congratulating DeChambeau or speaking to the media.
“I said hello to him yesterday (Monday) and we talked,” DeChambeau said at Troon. “He said congrats so everything’s great there.
“He’s a fierce competitor. I know he’s going to give the fans as much as he can this week. I’m going to be doing the same. We’re going to be competing. Hopefully it will be another good battle.”
After three weeks off, McIlroy returned to action with a tie for fourth in last week’s Scottish Open and has been keen to reframe what happened at Pinehurst in a positive light.
The world number two rightly pointed out that, between 2015 and 2020, he had few genuine chances to win a major, despite racking up numerous top 10s.
In last year’s US Open, McIlroy birdied the first hole during the final round at Los Angeles Country Club to briefly hold a share of the lead, but would not make another and ultimately finished one shot behind Wyndham Clark.
At Pinehurst there were plenty of birdies, including four in five holes from the ninth, before those short missed putts – from two feet and six inches on the 16th and three feet and nine inches on the last – which Sir Nick Faldo believes will “haunt” McIlroy for ever.
“I’d much rather have these close calls. It means that I’m getting closer,” McIlroy insisted.
Whether that is true or not, McIlroy can draw on the memories of his tie for fifth the last time the Open was staged at Troon, albeit a country mile behind winner Henrik Stenson and runner-up Phil Mickelson, as he bids to lift the Claret Jug for the second time.
“It’s basically a tale of two nines on this course,” McIlroy said. “You feel like you have to make your score on the way out and then sort of hang on coming in.”
Or, as DeChambeau put it: “That back nine has some teeth.”
Identifying which of the 158 players will emerge unscathed on Sunday evening promises to be fascinating viewing.
