has spoken for the first time since his demoralizing collapse at last month. Ahead of this week’s Genesis Scottish Open, the tournament he won in dramatic fashion a year ago, McIlroy called the final round of this year’s a “great day until it wasn’t.” McIlroy sat at 8-under and held a one-shot advantage over with four holes to play, but he made three bogeys down the stretch to lose by one, thus continuing his decade-long major championship drought.
“I did things on that Sunday that I haven’t been able to do in the last couple of years. I took control of the golf tournament. I holed putts when I needed to.
Well, mostly when I needed to. I made birdies. You know, really got myself in there,” said McIlroy, who was 4-under par for his round through 14 holes.
“And then, look, obviously, unfortunate to miss those last two putts, the [par] putt on 16 and obviously the putt on 18.” The missed par attempt on 16 will live in U.S.
Open infamy for years. From 2 feet 6 inches away, McIlroy pulled his par try, the first attempt he missed inside of three feet all year. His dropped shot on 16—his second straight bogey—brought him back into a tie with DeChambeau.
“I can vividly remember feeling a little uncomfortable waiting for my second putt on 16,” McIlroy said. “I hit such a good [lag] putt. Halfway down, the first putt looked like it could be a birdie, and then it ran a foot by where I thought it was going to finish.
Then I marked it. Then it was Patrick [Ca.
