Rory McIlroy has suggested the error he made while Bryson DeChambeau was playing the back nine behind him on Sunday at the US Open, as the Northern Irishman reflected on the heartbreaking conclusion to his round.
Sunday at Pinehurst is going to go down as one of the greatest finales in major championship history, with it becoming clear from the early stages of the final round that the US Open was likely to be won by either Rory McIlroy or Bryson DeChambeau.
McIlroy has gone nearly a decade without winning a major, while DeChambeau has been the best performer in the majors this year – finishing in the top six at The Masters and the PGA Championship. At one stage on the back nine, it appeared that McIlroy had one hand on the trophy as he led by two.
However, two short putts missed on 16 and 18 opened the door for DeChambeau to go on and win by one. McIlroy was clearly devastated to miss out and swiftly left the property before taking a break from the game.
Rory McIlroy admits mistake he made on back nine at US Open
McIlroy will surely be able to recall a number of moments which he could have tackled differently. And speaking in his press conference ahead of the Scottish Open, the 35-year-old suggested that he took too much of an interest in what DeChambeau was doing down the stretch.
“There is learnings in there. I can vividly remember starting to feel uncomfortable waiting for my second putt on 16. The putt on the last was a very tricky putt and I was very aware of where Bryson was off the tee,” he said.
“So I knew I had to hit it really soft. If the one back didn’t matter I would have hit it firmer. But because I was in two minds, I didn’t know if Bryson would make a par or not, I had to make sure that if the putt didn’t go in, it didn’t go ten foot past, which it easily could have. So thinking back I was maybe a bit too aware of where Bryson was and what he was doing, but it was the nature of the golf course and how the golf course flowed.
“After the 14th tee you are looking at 13th green and then I had to wait on my 15th tee shot to let him hit his tee shot on 14. The way the course flowed made me very aware of what he was doing at the same time and I got out of my own little world a little bit.”
Pressure got to Northern Irishman with major title in his grasp
What happened in those final three holes is a freak occurrence, with McIlroy unlikely to miss that putt on 16 again if he was given another 500 attempts. That would definitely suggest that he got a little too caught up in the duel with DeChambeau, rather than continuing to do what had taken him out into the front in the first place.
And both men taking a driver on 18 hinted that they were both looking to do something special to beat the other, rather than stick to their processes.
Ultimately, it was DeChambeau who managed to do just about enough to get the job done, while McIlroy has plenty of lessons which will hopefully benefit him when he gets into that position again.
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