Golf: McIlroy unravels at the US Open
Rory McIlroy’s quest for a fifth major (he won his fourth in 2014) has been one of golf’s big stories in recent times, said James Corrigan in The Daily Telegraph. And on Sunday, the Northern Irishman seemed on the brink of ending his drought: with five holes to play at the US Open, he led Bryson DeChambeau by two shots. But then, in a remarkable passage of play, things cruelly unravelled for the 35-yearold. He struck three bogeys in the final four holes – twice missing the simplest of putts. That gave DeChambeau, who himself was struggling with nerves, the opportunity “to steal through”. On the final hole, the American secured the title with a brilliant chip from the bunker, followed by a straightforward putt for a par.
McIlroy is no stranger to golfing “heartbreak”, said Tom Kershaw in The Times: his career has been studded with implosions and near-misses. But this loss will sting more than any other, because victory was so completely in his own hands. To put his two missed putts in perspective, the first was a mere 2ft 6in, while the second was 3ft 9in, said Bob Harig in Sports Illustrated. McIlroy doesn’t usually miss these shots. He’d previously had 496 putts of under three feet in 2024 – and had sunk every one. He “hadn’t missed inside five feet all week”.
McIlroy “cut a composed but despondent figure” afterwards, said Bryan Armen Graham in The Guardian. He declined all interviews and left the Pinewood course in a car “almost immediately after his rival’s final putt dropped” – not even staying to shake DeChambeau’s hand. McIlroy has certainly “nursed scar tissue before”, said Daniel Matthews in the Daily Mail. But you have to wonder how he can recover from this – and whether that elusive fifth major will “ever arrive”.