NORTH BERWICK, Scotland – Rory McIlroy returned to his little world a few days too late.
The immediate fallout from a U.S. Open he threw away — missing two shots in the 3-foot range — included a previously planned trip to Manhattan. McIlroy said he walked the High Line a few times, being able to be a face in the crowd in America’s busiest city.
“Alone with my thoughts for a few days, which was nice,” McIlroy said on Wednesday at the Genesis Scottish Open, his first time back from a more devastating loss at Pinehurst No. 2. “They were difficult, but at the same time, as the days went by, it became easier to focus on the positives and then think about the future instead of what had just happened.”
What happened is hard to forget.
McIlroy missed a 30-inch par putt on the 16th hole in the final round. And then he missed a sliding descent of just 4 feet on the 18th, paving the way for Bryson DeChambeau will win another US Open and McIlroy to extend his decade without a major.
He attributed it to losing concentration in the final hour, becoming aware of what was going on around him, particularly with DeChambeau. Even when McIlroy faced a difficult shot on the 18th, he wondered if DeChambeau would be able to make par from the left side behind him. McIlroy said he hit the shot too softly to protect it from going 10 feet.
“So it kind of took me out of my little world a little bit,” McIlroy said.
He said there were lessons learned and he is now back to work. McIlroy is the current champion at the Scottish Openwhere he drilled a 2-iron from 201 yards into a strong wind to set up a short birdie last year and deny Scotland’s own Robert MacIntyre.
And next week is the last major of the year, the British Open at Royal Troon. McIlroy said he sees this as nothing more than another opportunity to win his first major in 10 years, not an occasion for redemption.
The US Open hurt, although he insists it was more difficult. He cried in a cart after missing a big chance at St. Andrews when he failed to buy a shot and Cameron Smith shot 64 to win at the home of golf.
He also referenced the 2011 Masters, when he lost a four-shot lead with an 80 in the final round. This hurts over time because it’s the one that Major McIlroy didn’t win.
“It was up there with the tough losses, but not the toughest,” he said.
What McIlroy said he doesn’t regret is his quick exit after DeChambeau’s remarkable 55-yard bunker shot on the 18th to set up a 4-foot par putt and the win. McIlroy didn’t want to talk to any media, walked straight to his car and the tires spat gravel as he left Pinehurst as quickly as he could.
“There is nothing I could have said. It would have been nice because you guys could write something about it or quote me,” McIlroy said. “No offense. You were the least of my worries.
McIlroy described the US Open final round as “a great day, until it wasn’t.”
The most curious thing was when he said it all started to fall apart – a 30-inch shot on the 16th hole. It was much more routine than the shot on the 18th which, he said, required him to aim a few cups to the left because it broke. too sharply and had the potential to go through the hole.
“You sit there, it’s hard not to start thinking about the future or not realizing before Bryson’s ball is in the field or that kind of thing,” he said. “But again, it’s up to me to make sure I’m in the right space.”
McIlroy said it wasn’t a terrible shot, but he missed at a terrible time. It cost him a one-shot lead, and the final bogey – and DeChambeau’s great save – decided it.
There’s one piece of history McIlroy hopes to revive: his ability to bounce back. Two months after losing a huge Masters lead in 2011, he won his first major at the US Open.
He has two weeks in Scotland to try and leave Pinehurst, the second week at Royal Troon getting much more attention. There’s a month left until he competes for the gold medal at the Olympics.
For McIlroy, the goal is to move forward.
“When I look back on that day, just as I look back on some of the most difficult moments in my career, I will learn a lot from it and hope to put it to good use,” he said. “It’s something that has been a theme throughout my career. I was able to take those difficult moments and turn them into great things not long after that.”
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