Rory McIlroy says he’d go through “100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another Major championship” after coming up one stroke shy at the 2023 US Open.
The Northern Irishman’s level par 70 on Sunday at Los Angeles Country Club put him at nine-under, with Wyndham Clark posting 10-under to take the title after a dramatic final round.
McIlroy was right there with Clark all day until the 14th, when he bogeyed the par 5 with a wedge in hand for his third shot. It came up short and plugged in the thick rough above the greenside bunker and, after a free drop for an embedded ball, he was unable to get up-and-down to save par.
Clark then struck one of the shots of the tournament with a fairway wood to set up a two-putt birdie and increase the gap to three. Despite bogeys on 15 and 16, the American got over the line to pip McIlroy by the smallest of margins and extend the Northern Irishman’s Major drought to nearly a full nine years.
“There was a couple of things that I probably would have done differently, but all in all, I played a solid round of golf,” McIlroy said after his close call.
“That one wedge shot on 14, missed birdie putt on 8, really apart from that, I did everything else the way I wanted to.
“Yeah, fine, fine margins at this level and at this tournament especially, but I fought to the very end. I obviously never give up. And I’m getting closer.
“The more I keep putting myself in these positions, sooner or later it’s going to happen for me. Just got to regroup and get focused for Hoylake in a few weeks’ time.
“It is [exhausting competing for Majors], but at the same time, when I do finally win this next Major, it’s going to be really, really sweet.
“I would go through 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another Major championship.”
This week saw a slightly different Rory McIlroy to the usual one we’re used to seeing, with the 34-year-old cancelling his pre-tournament press conference and then skipping media duties after round one.
It was clear that he wasn’t going to let any distractions or talk of golf’s merger get in the way of the job in hand, and he so nearly completed it.
He’ll tee it up on the PGA Tour again next week but the real focus now, he says, is to capture a Major once again – starting at Royal Liverpool in next month’s 151st Open Championship.
“I’ll play Travelers next week, I’ll play the Scottish Open, but I’m focused on making sure that I’m ready to go for Liverpool,” he said.
McIlroy’s quest for a fifth Major continues.
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