Troon, Scotland — Rory McIlroy had plenty of time to accept that a 10th consecutive year would pass without a major win. He now has to wait 265 days until the next day, when he hears the Augusta National starter say, „Four, please. Rory McIlroy driving.”
The realization came on the fourth hole of the second round. He needed a good start to make the cut, and perhaps make it back to the Open Championship. He got three moves.
„There are twenty-two holes in the event and I’m thinking about where I’m going to go on holiday next week,” McIlroy said after rounds of 78-75 to miss the cut by five shots.
Whatever he had in mind for the holidays, his next thought was how to salvage another trophy-less season from the four major events.
It was a more difficult year than the previous major year.
He had a two-shot lead on the back nine of the US Open. He was very much in control until he missed a 30-inch putt on the 16th hole, then fell behind when he missed a par putt from within 4 feet on the last hole.
McIlroy was so distraught that he pulled out of Pinehurst, withdrew from the next tournament and spent a few days in Manhattan trying to collect his thoughts.
I was reminded of what McIlroy famously said after the 2023 US Open — another opportunity he let slip — „I’ll go through 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another major championship.”
Was he taken from Troon?
„I’d rather have a disappointing Sunday than go home on a Friday,” he said.
One lesson from the US Open was the reminder that he is a great player who has achieved more than he thought he would when he turned pro in 2007 at 18. He has four majors and 26 titles on the PGA Tour. FedEx Cup titles.
„It’s not like we only play four events a year,” McIlroy said. „We’re playing 25. So there’s still some things left to play for. Obviously, the majors have come and gone.”
Next up for McIlroy is the Olympics, raising the question of how much a gold medal will fill the void of the many silver trophies he left behind this year.
„It’s not like we’re only playing four events a year. We’re playing 25. So there’s a few more things to play. Obviously, the majors are here.”
Rory McIlroy
Golf is relatively new to the Olympic program, returning in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. McIlroy skipped the Games that summer, torn and slightly annoyed that the Northern Ireland golfer had to choose between the flags of the United Kingdom or Ireland.
He played an Irish golfer in Tokyo and lost in a seven-man playoff for bronze. „I have never tried so hard in my life to finish third,” he said.
As in tennis, McIlroy said the gold medal will be the gold standard on the road for years to come. For now, he has it.
„Again, I’m in contention to try to win both titles on both sides of the Atlantic,” said McIlroy, the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and the Race to Dubai on the European Tour. McIlroy is 3rd in the FedEx Cup and leads Europe. „There are still some things to play out until the end of the year.”
Looking forward to the start of Masters, there is no choice but to move forward.
Tiger Woods went 11 years between majors, but that’s easy to explain. Her personal life exploded after her shocking admission of extramarital affairs, which led to multiple injuries to her legs, four surgeries on her back, a pain medication DUI and an embarrassing arrest for the ages.
McIlroy was 25 when he won his last major. He missed a major because of an ankle injury he suffered playing soccer with friends.
If he hasn’t made it in the last decade, it’s more than just not succeeding; A player with this skill has little chance of winning. The last two US Opens were at Pinehurst and Los Angeles. Carnoustie was at the 2018 Open Championship. And there was St. Andrews in 2022, when he two-putted every green and closed with a 70.
McIlroy is 35. If he looks old, this is his 17th year on tour. It’s a lot of scar tissue that builds up over time. Losing more often than winning in a game like this.
Only five players in major championship history have gone 11 years between majors: Woods, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin, Julius Boroughs and Henry Cotton.
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