TROON, Scotland — Rory McIlroy had loads of time to simply accept {that a} tenth straight yr would cross with out him successful a serious. He now has to attend 265 days for the subsequent one, when he hears the starter at Augusta Nationwide say, “Fore, please. Rory McIlroy driving.”
The belief got here on the fourth gap of the second spherical. He wanted a very good begin to make the minimize, possibly get again into the Open Championship. What he obtained was a triple bogey.
“Twenty-two holes into the occasion and I am fascinated about the place I’ll go on trip subsequent week,” McIlroy stated after rounds of 78-75 to overlook the minimize by 5 photographs.
No matter he had in thoughts for trip, his subsequent thought was learn how to salvage one other season that won’t embody a trophy from the 4 largest occasions.
This has been a more durable yr than most due to the earlier main.
He had a two-shot lead on the again 9 of the U.S. Open. He was very a lot in management till lacking a 30-inch putt on the sixteenth gap after which falling behind when he missed a par putt from inside 4 toes on the final gap.
McIlroy was so distraught he peeled out of Pinehurst, withdrew from the subsequent event and spent a number of days in Manhattan making an attempt to gather his ideas.
It dropped at thoughts McIlroy famously saying after the 2023 U.S. Open — one other alternative he let slip away — that “I’d undergo 100 Sundays like this to get my palms on one other main championship.”
His takeaway from Troon?
“I would a lot somewhat have a disappointing Sunday than going dwelling on Friday,” he stated.
One lesson from the U.S. Open was to remind himself that he is an excellent participant who has achieved greater than he would have thought when he turned professional in 2007 at age 18. He has 4 majors and 26 titles on the PGA Tour, together with three FedEx Cup titles.
“It isn’t as if we solely play 4 occasions a yr,” McIlroy stated. “We play like 25. So there’s nonetheless a number of issues there’s left to play for. Clearly, the majors have come and gone.”
Subsequent up for McIlroy is the Olympics, and that raises a query how a lot a gold medal might fill the void of so many silver trophies he left behind this yr.
“It isn’t as if we solely play 4 occasions a yr. We play like 25. So there’s nonetheless a number of issues there’s left to play for. Clearly, the majors have come and gone.”
Rory McIlroy
Golf is comparatively new to the Olympic program, having returned in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro. McIlroy skipped these Summer season Video games, nonetheless torn and barely irritated a couple of Northern Eire golfer having to decide on between flags of the UK or Eire.
He performed in Tokyo as an Irish golfer and misplaced in a seven-man playoff for the bronze. “I’ve by no means tried so laborious in my life to complete third,” he stated.
McIlroy stated a gold medal may really feel like a gold normal a number of years down the street, very similar to it has in tennis. For now, it is about all he has.
“After which once more, I am in rivalry to attempt to win each titles on both aspect of the Atlantic,” McIlroy stated, referring to the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and the Race to Dubai on the European tour. McIlroy is at No. 3 within the FedEx Cup and leads in Europe. “Nonetheless some issues to play for till the tip of the yr.”
There actually is not one other alternative however ahead, so long as that features waiting for the beginning of the Masters.
Tiger Woods went 11 years between majors, however that was straightforward to clarify. His private life imploded after a surprising admission of extramarital affairs, adopted by extra accidents to his legs, 4 surgical procedures on his again, the ache treatment that led to an embarrassing arrest for DUI and age.
McIlroy was 25 when he received his final main. He missed one main with an ankle damage from enjoying soccer with buddies.
If he has underachieved previously decade, it is greater than not successful; it is a participant of this expertise having so few probabilities to win. There was Pinehurst and Los Angeles on the previous two U.S. Open. There was Carnoustie within the 2018 Open Championship. And there was St. Andrews in 2022, when he two-putted each inexperienced and closed with a 70.
McIlroy is 35. If he appears older, it is as a result of that is his seventeenth yr on tour. That is plenty of scar tissue that builds up over time. Dropping occurs much more typically than successful in a sport like this.
Solely 5 gamers in main championship historical past have gone 11 years between majors: Woods, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin, Julius Boros and Henry Cotton.
