After suffering heartbreak at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst three weeks ago, Rory McIlroy stewed for a couple of days but said he’s ready to return to action at this week’s Genesis Scottish Open and see if he can handle the closing stretch better next time.
Summing up the disappointment of making three bogeys over the final four holes, including two short misses, to lose by one stroke to Bryson DeChambeau, McIlroy said, “It was a great day until it wasn’t.”
“I got over it pretty quickly,” added McIlroy, who in the aftermath opted to withdraw from the Travelers Championship the following day and take a few weeks to build himself back up ahead of the final major of the year, next week’s British Open. “The few days after it were pretty tough at times but I feel like I’ve done a good job of thinking about it rationally and constructively, and staking what I need from it and trying to learn from it. But like for the most part it was a great day…You know, there’s not a lot that I would change about what I did on Sunday for the first 14 holes. That’s the best I’ve played in that position in a long, long time.”
SCOTTISH OPEN: Tournament hub | Thursday tee times, TV
McIlroy has analyzed how it all went terribly wrong and he took the time during his pre-tournament press conference in North Berwick, Scotland, to share some of his Monday Morning Quarterbacking.
“The short putt on 16 is one that I’ll probably rue most because it was a pretty simple putt,” he said. “I can vividly remember starting to feel a little uncomfortable waiting for my second putt on 16.”
He noted that he thought his birdie effort might fall but then it rolled a foot beyond tap-in range and he marked. He had a long time to think about it as his playing competitor, Patrick Cantlay, was deliberate in lining up his par effort and McIlroy said his mind began to wander.
“I hit a decent putt on 16,” he said. “I probably read that just right of center. Probably started it a touch left of that. Probably started it straight, maybe a touch left of center, and the green grabbed it and it caught the left edge. Wasn’t a terrible putt, but I definitely felt a little bit of uneasiness before I hit it.”
Rory McIlroy warms up on the range during the second round of the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
In replaying what went wrong at 18, where he missed a tricky 4-foot, left-to-right slider, McIlroy again pointed to a…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…