Rory McIlroy leaves the Pinehurst clubhouse after the final round of the U.S. Open Sunday.
John Sodaro/GOLF PINEHURST, N.C. — After it was all over — that is, after Bryson DeChambeau had holed a 4-foot putt to win this 124th U.
S. Open — Rory McIlroy exited the scoring room beneath the Pinehurst No. 2 clubhouse where he had been watching the closing moments of the championship on the NBC broadcast.
His white Nike cap was pushed back on his head, brim pointing to the ceiling: the international sign for exasperation, frustration and did this really just happen again ? A security guard in a black shirt opened a door and McIlroy and his team, tailed by a Netflix crew carrying a camera and boom mic, slipped into the interior of the clubhouse and down another hallway before disappearing into the U.S. Open Champions’ Locker Room.
McIlroy had earned entrée to that coveted sanctuary by way of his win in 2011, back when Barack Obama was still serving his first term in the Oval Office. Thirteen years have passed since then, a period in which McIlroy has soared to incredible highs‚ including three more major titles, but also endured soul-crushing disappointments and what-could-have-beens, including what on Sunday evening became an 0-for-37 run in the majors and a more-bitter-than-sweet nine consecutive top-10 finishes at the U.S.
Open without a victory. Was this Sunday, though, when McIlroy held a two-shot lead with five holes to play his most heartbreaking major defeat yet? I.
