Rory McIlroy is leaving another Major championship empty handed after an agonising close call at Los Angeles Country Club.
The Northern Irishman posted a nine-under total to force Wyndham Clark to par the 72nd to win, with McIlroy ultimately coming up one stroke shy in LA.
It’s his third top-three finish at a Major in 14 months and his 19th top 10 in a Major since he last won one at Valhalla in August 2014.
So what went wrong on Sunday for McIlroy?
It had shades of St Andrews about it, where he closed with a two-under 70 at the 150th Open to lose out by two strokes to Cameron Smith. The Aussie shot one of the all-time Open Championship rounds with an eight-under 64 to rip the Claret Jug out of McIlroy’s hands.
Rory played great golf that week but just didn’t get the putts to drop on Sunday. Was he too conservative? Did he try to ‘not lose’ instead of go out and win? Those were the questions.
McIlroy missed out at the 150th Open last year after holding the 54-hole lead
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Sunday at LACC was similar. He had 36 putts in his final round and certainly looked to be playing with that same mentally of trying not to lose instead of going out there to win.
But it was slightly different. The course was firm and bogeys were there to be made, and his safe strategy looked to be the right play. He didn’t have a charging Cameron Smith to deal with, he just needed to par his way in on the tough LACC and hope that it would be good enough.
He made two big errors that ultimately cost him that elusive fifth Major, though.
He missed from 4ft for birdie on the par 5 8th after finding the edge of the putting green in two. His first putt from just off of the surface came up shy before he pulled his birdie attempt left.
The fatal error came on 14, the third and final par 5 of the round. His wedge from 125 yards got caught up in the wind and came up short, and after a free drop for an embedded ball he was unable to get it up-and-down to save his par.
McIlroy’s missed the green with his wedge shot into the par 5 14th and made bogey
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Wyndham Clark in the group behind then hit the shot of the tournament, finding the green in two with a fairway wood and making a birdie for a two-shot swing and a lead of three.
Clark ultimately dropped two shots coming in but sealed the title by a single stroke – and it will be a tough one to take for McIlroy once again.
Unlike St Andrews last year where Smith charged past him with a 64, he wasn’t really beaten…
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