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Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy addressed his historic U.S. Open collapse ahead of his return to golf at the Scottish Open.
McIlroy missed two short putts on the 16th and 18th holes during the final round of the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, falling one stroke shy of champion Bryson DeChambeau in what would've been his first major in a decade. The 35-year-old was seen leaving Pinehurst prior to DeChambeau's final hole, but later congratulated the two-time major champion in a statement in which he also announced a hiatus until this weekend's tournament shared one day after the U.S. Open.
“(The days have) been OK. I got over it pretty quickly,” McIlroy told SkySports. “The few days after were pretty tough at times. But I feel like I’ve done a good job of thinking about it rationally and constructively and taking what I need from it and trying to learn from it.
“For the most part, it was a great day. I keep telling people, it was a great day until it wasn’t. There were a couple of little things I’d like to have back at the end there. Overall, I can’t fault how I played or the gameplan that I had or how I handled myself the whole way through the tournament.”
“I can vividly remember starting to feel a little uncomfortable waiting for my second putt on 16 and the putt on the last was a really tricky putt and I was very aware where Bryson was off the tee,” McIlroy said of the missed putts on 16 and 18 via SkySports. “I knew I had to hit it very soft. If the one back didn’t matter I would have hit it firmer but because I was sort of two minds — I didn’t know if Bryson was going to make a par or not — it was one of those ones where I just had to make sure if the putt didn’t go in it didn’t go 10 feet by, which it very easily could have. Thinking back, I think I was probably a little too aware of where Bryson was and what he was doing.”
DeChambeau capitalized by shooting for par on 18 to finish one stroke ahead of McIlroy at 6-under. The California native entered the day with a three-stroke lead on McIlroy, who was tied with Matthieu Pavon and Patrick Cantlay at 4-under.
"Rory is one of the best to ever play," DeChambeau said via ESPN after his U.S. Open win, which marked his second victory at the tournament and second career major. "He'll win multiple more major championships. There's no doubt. I think that fire in him is going to continue to grow."