McIlroy: 'I'm getting used to this. Hopefully the tide will turn soon'
Cardy/sportsfile Break: Mcilroy Amgen His Pic: Ramsey Irish Dejected Round Final Rory After Tough Finishing Co Royal Open The At At Down
RORY McIlroy intends to use the agony of his latest near-miss, at the Irish Open in Royal Co. Down, to end his long major drought at Royal Portrush when the biggest championship of them all returns to the north in 2025.
McIlroy held a one-shot lead entering the final round here in Newcastle. That was pushed out to three early on, but he ultimately fell one short after shooting a closing 69 and being pipped by the slimmest of margins thanks to Rasmus Hojgaard’s superb 65.
It was the most agonising of near things with McIlroy needing an eagle on the par-five last and going about it with a superb drive, a brilliant approach to ten feet and a putt that shaved the edge of the cup without dropping.
“That roar when I hit that second shot on 18 was pretty cool,” he said. “The support I got out there this week was absolutely amazing. I've had a great time being home. It's been too long. Need to keep coming back more often.
“But from where I was at the start of the week and what I wanted to do, it's a step in the right direction. You know, if anything, it just whets my appetite even more for Portrush next year.”
His last experience in Portrush, when Shane Lowry won the Open there in 2019, was traumatic with a disastrous opening drive and first hole that fed into a score of 79 that ultimately saw him miss the cut.
This disappointment was very different, but difficult in its own way.
Hojgaard had some luck in chipping in twice on the back nine but McIlroy missed gettable birdies around the turn and dropped loose shots after that. A terrible putt on 17 that flew by the hole and cost him a bogey was the most obvious example.
“I felt like I was in control of the tournament for most of the day,” said McIlroy who won the Irish Open in 2016 but has rarely featured late on the Sunday afternoon at his home championship other than that.
“I felt like I was playing really solid, doing what I needed to do, making a lot of pars, making the odd birdie. Then obviously the two bogeys on 15 and 17 opened the door for someone to have a good finish like what Rasmus did there on the last few holes.
“I played well this week. Missing the green right on 15 was the place that you can't go. And just misjudged the speed with the first putt on 17. Overall, really disappointed that I didn't win but I'll try to take the positives and move on next week to Wentworth.”
He has won three times in 2024 and continues to rack up prize money with a consistently good brand of golf, but the tournaments that matter most continue to elude him with his latest major still standing as the US PGA title back in 2014.
Losing this year’s US Open to Bryson DeChambeau by one shot, after carding three bogeys in the last four holes, will stand as the main regret when he looks back on the calendar year, but this was all too familiar a story much closer to home.
“Unfortunately I'm getting used to it this year. Hopefully the tide is going to turn pretty soon, and I can turn all these close calls into victories.”
