After Rory McIlroy, the world No. 3 player, missed the opportunity to win the US Open in Sunday’s final round at Pinehurst, golf legend Sir Nick Faldo said that the player will be haunted for the rest of his life.
The way Rory McIlroy let the US Open get away from him, in Sir Nick Faldo’s opinion, will haunt the Ulsterman forever.
At Pinehurst, McIlroy, 35, broke through for a two-shot lead on the back nine after making four birdies in five holes, putting him in position to win his fifth major championship. But the third-ranked player in the world made bogeys on three of his final four holes, giving Bryson DeChambeau the victory.
Six-time major winner Faldo couldn’t contain his shock following McIlroy’s late collapse while commentating on the final round for Sky Sports. “Those two misses are going to haunt Rory for the rest of his life,” the British commenter aptly put it.
Following DeChambeau’s victory, a distraught McIlroy left quickly and avoided speaking with the media. The American, in his post-tournament interview, demonstrated class by expressing sympathy for his opponent.
After finishing with a final round score of 71, which put him six under par and one shot ahead of McIlroy, DeChambeau said, “For him to miss that putt (on 18), I would never wish that on anybody.” “I believe that fire within him will only smolder more. He will take home more significant titles.
“I have the utmost respect for the way he plays golf because, to be honest, I was like, ‘Uh-oh, uh-oh,’ when he was two ahead on the leaderboard. But happily, things worked out for me.
After winning his second major, DeChambeau was able to celebrate, but McIlroy was left to wonder what might have been after coming within a whisker of winning his first major since the 2014 PGA Championship.
Paradoxically, before his late collapse at Pinehurst, McIlroy’s short game had been almost perfect. Prior to missing huge putts on the 16th and 18th holes in 2024, he had made 496 putts in a row of three feet or less.
Next month at the Open Championship at Royal Troon, McIlroy, who has placed in the top 10 at nine of the previous twelve major tournaments, will have another chance to snap his ten-year drought.
He had gone wire-to-wire to win the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool back in 2014.
