Rory McIlroy was left pissed off by seeing the “wheels come off” through the US Open, the place a disappointing weekend show noticed his main hopes ended at Shinnecock Hills.
McIlroy posted an opening-round 69 and was seven off the midway lead after a one-over 71 on Friday, then raced inside 4 of Wyndham Clark following three consecutive birdies throughout his third spherical.
The Masters champion spectacularly unravelled through the again 9 on Saturday, carding 5 bogeys in a three-over 73, with any hopes of an eighth consecutive US Open high 20 ended by one other irritating last day.
McIlroy referred to as for himself to “just go home” after a poor method shot early on Sunday, when he bogeyed three of his first 5 holes and recorded his worst US Open end for the reason that match was final held at Shinnecock Hills in 2018.
“I think it [Shinnecock Hills] won the battle over me at this point,” McIlroy mentioned following his final-round 73, which noticed him end on six over. “I believe wanting again on all the week, I am going to clearly rue the back-nine yesterday [Saturday].
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McIlroy was visibly pissed off after hitting a poor method to the third inexperienced at Shinnecock Hills, as he slipped additional down the leaderboard
“I obtained myself to 2 beneath par for the match after 9 yesterday, then the wheels got here off and performed a very dangerous again 9 – I shot myself out of the match then.
“I was really disappointed coming away from the course last night. You try to come out here today positive and you try to muster up the energy to put a good one in there, but, after a couple of bogeys on the front nine, I was just trying to race my way to the 18th green.”
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McIlroy made three birdies in a row at one stage through the third spherical
McIlroy was second final of the 72 gamers in method play on the ultimate day and 59th in strokes gained placing, with the six-time main champion struggling together with his irons and on the greens to proceed his tumble down the leaderboard.
“Today he just looked slightly lacklustre,” Sky Sports activities’ Andrew Coltart mentioned on commentary. “A couple of years ago he would go out there in the majors and he’d struggle in the first round, play himself out of it, and then would back his way into a top five or something by fighting hard.”
Rory McIlroy was chasing a second main win of the season and first on the US Open since 2011
Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley added: “It has been a seesaw week for McIlroy. One step forward and two steps back has been the order of play for him all week long.
“As he has made a couple of birdies, he has adopted it with errors.”
All eyes on The Open for McIlroy
McIlroy’s end is his worst consequence since efficiently defending his title at The Masters in April, with the Northern Irishman now set for a fortnight off after electing to skip subsequent week’s Vacationers Championship – the ultimate Signature Occasion of the season.
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Highlights from the ultimate spherical of The Masters, the place McIlroy held off Scottie Scheffler and Justin Rose to defend his title
He additionally missed the Cadillac Championship and the RBC Heritage this season, that means he has made simply 10 appearances in PGA Tour-sanctioned occasions in 2026 and performed in solely 5 of the eight Signature Occasions.
McIlroy will return to motion on the Genesis Scottish Open on July 9-12, which he gained in 2023 and completed runner-up to Chris Gotterup final 12 months, forward of that includes in The Open at Royal Birkdale the next week.
“I’ll be playing some links golf this week probably coming up, but it’s my favourite time of the year to go back home and play The Open,” McIlroy added. “I get to spend a bit of time back there.
“This was not too dissimilar to an Open Championship by way of how the golf course began to play over the weekend, however a little bit of hyperlinks golf over the following couple weeks will likely be good.”
Watch Rory McIlroy in PGA Tour and DP World Tour action throughout the season live on Sky Sports. McIlroy will chase major victory at The Open from July 16-19, live on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports activities or stream with no contract.
