Rory McIlroy’s two missed putts cost him the chance to win the US Open

PINEHURST, North Carolina – Rory McIlroy put himself in position to end a decade-long drought in the majors and answered a series of questions about his ability to do so, only to miss two putts on Sunday that left him leaving the parking lot disappointed. .

McIlroy signed for a final-round 69 that left him at 5 under for the championship, and had to watch on TV in the scoring room as Bryson DeChambeau finished behind him. Big hitter DeChambeau did what McIlroy couldn’t-could-around the green-when he got up and down for par from 55 yards into a bunker before the 18th green for a 71 and a one-shot victory.

“Rory was on fire and made some mistakes along the way, and I just stayed on track,” DeChambeau said. “I can’t believe those ups and downs in the last one.”

McIlroy wasted no time in escaping. He climbed into an SUV in the players’ parking lot, with his clubs loaded in the back, and briefly spun the tires on the gravel as he left without answering questions from the media.

His silence spoke volumes about how crushing this loss must have been.

The first shot that McIlroy will regret until his next shot at a major – perhaps the rest of his career, if he never wins a fifth – came on the par-4 16th hole. He was clinging to a one-shot lead over DeChambeau, hit a towering iron into the middle of the green and then hit a beautiful 30-inch lag putt – and missed, for the second bogey in a row.

The second came about 30 minutes later when McIlroy walked toward the 18th green tied for the lead. He advanced to the front of the putting surface after getting a bad break off the tee, the ball hit a wire brush, and proceeded to hit a shot up the slope toward the hole. But his 3 foot 9 inch par putt went through one last bogeyman.

That shot that proved to be the difference.

McIlroy, 35, was also runner-up at the Los Angeles Country Club last year and said afterwards: “I would spend 100 Sundays like this to get another major championship.” He has now finished in the top 10 at the U.S. Open in each of the last six years, including a tie for fifth two years ago at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

McIlroy also placed second at the Masters two years ago and tied for second at the British Open in 2018. And with each near-miss in the majors, pressure appears to be growing on the Northern Irishman to end a drought that dates back to the PGA Championship of 2014. in Valhalla.

He had been in the hunt since the opening round at Pinehurst, shooting a 5-under 65 on Thursday. He came back into the field a bit with a 72 in the second round, but rebounded with a 69 that placed McIlroy with Patrick Cantlay in the second-to-last group on Sunday.

The two feuded during last year’s Ryder Cup in Italy, but there was no lingering animosity. In fact, the two wished each other luck on the first tee and then set about trying to win one of golf’s toughest events.

McIlroy was up to the challenge all week. He tied for third on fairways in regulation, missing the native penalty areas as much as anyone else until Sunday’s 18th, and finished second only to DeChambeau in driving distance.

However, it was on the slippery, turtle-backed and downright diabolical greens designed by Donald Ross that his US Open was lost.

McIlroy played the first 69 holes of the championship without missing a putt from within 4 feet; he bogeyed two on his last three holes. The first of those was the first time he missed a shot from under 3 feet all season, and the second short miss left McIlroy watching DeChambeau lift the trophy he won 13 years ago.

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AP Golf: