Rory McIlroy has claimed that last month’s US Open loss was NOT the toughest of his career – singling out two other major crumbles as defeats which were harder to take. McIlroy had an infamous collapse at Pinehurst in June, with bogeys on three of his last four holes seeing his chance of a first major in 10 years slip away in agonising fashion. His tumble handed the impetus to Bryson DeChambeau, who capitalised for a second US Open win of his career.
The world No.2 skipped media duties and swiftly split the scene as he soaked in the shock of the defeat. Despite the nature of the conclusion, McIlroy has since argued that it was not the worst day of his career.
Having taken a three-week break from golf in the wake of the Open nightmare, the Holywood man will return to action at the Scottish Open from The Renaissance Club in North Berwick this weekend. He will go in search of a revival of his own as he defends the title he won in 2023. Appearing in front of the media for the first time since Pinehurst, McIlroy addressed that fateful weekend in detail, and claimed his slip-ups at Augusta in 2011 and the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews were days which had left bigger black marks.
He said: ‘It’s something that’s been a bit of a theme throughout my career, I’ve been able to take those tough moments and turn them into great things not very long after that. ‘It’s been a while since I’ve won a major but I felt worse after some other losses. I felt worse after Aug.
