Rory McIlroy’s wait to win another event continued as he effectively threw away the Irish Open at Royal County Down today.
McIlroy was in the driving seat for much of the tournament heading into the back nine, he looked like cruising to a win in front of his home crowd.
However, a couple of nightmare bogeys put a serious dent in the charge and with Rasmus Hojgaard charging along, McIlory found himself in danger.
In the end, McIlroy came within centimetres of forcing a playoff as he narrowly tickled a putt wide of the hole for eagle on 18.
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After an up and down year on the PGA Tour and his heartbreak at the US Open, this was very much a kick in the teeth again for Rory.
However, putting a positive spin on things for Rory and the tournament in general, Smylie Kaufman has offered up his verdict on proceedings.
Smylie Kaufman says Rory McIlroy still did something incredible at the Irish Open
McIlroy’s approach shot into 18 was something dreams are made of and he left himself with around 10-12 feet to extend the match.
In the end, it wasn’t to be.
But over on X, Smylie Kaufman was full of praise for McIlroy and admitted he did well to even give himself a chance on 18 given the circumstances.
Rory McIlroy needs a win soon
He mentioned it in his post-round interviews but there has to be a point where McIlroy gets this over the line and gets back to winning ways.
It was a real shame he couldn’t win this weekend in Ireland and show the world that he still knows how to get over the line in big tournaments.
Of course, Hojgaard deserves praise for playing some brilliant golf but McIlroy will know deep down that he threw this away a bit.
With that in mind, he needs a win soon and with 2025 soon upon us and major season coming before we know it, McIlroy will be desperate to have a win on the board before that.
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