Rory McIlroy’s frustration was clearly evident during his final round
Rory McIlroy(Image: Warren Little/Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy finished in a share of a 32nd place at the US Open as a three-over-par 73, his joint-highest score of the tournament, concluded a frustrating few days at Shinnecock Hills.
That frustration was clearly evident after a shot on the third hole when he could be heard dropping an F-bomb on TV, saying: “Oh, just go home, Rory. F****** hell!” The world number two dropped shots on second, third, fifth and ninth before birdies on the 10th, 11th and 15th, with further bogeys on the 14th and 17th.
McIlroy picked up €112,401 for his efforts, considerably less than the €3.9 million Wyndham Clark pocketed for winning the tournament by a single shot on four-under, with fellow American Sam Burns coming second and South Korean Tom Kim a further shot back in third. They were the only three players to finish under par for the tournament.
Speaking after his round, McIlroy said: “You try to come out and put a good one out there and I felt I maybe had a tiny chance, but I got off to a bad start.
“I guess it was a week of what could have been, which is pretty frustrating, but I’ll dust myself off and go again.”
Meanwhile, world number one Scottie Scheffler believed the treatment Wyndham Clark endured while claiming his second US Open crown was “a bit much”.
Scheffler partnered his American compatriot in the final pairing, attempting to bridge a six-stroke gap to secure the career grand slam.
This naturally generated considerable backing for him, while Clark’s mistakes – whose reputation took a knock after he damaged a locker at Oakmont following a missed cut last year – drew jeers from certain spectators, with some ultimately being removed from the grounds.
Clark ultimately triumphed by a single stroke over fellow countryman Burns, capturing his second major championship in four years.
Last September, galleries faced criticism for their treatment of European competitors during the Ryder Cup at Bethpage, roughly 60 miles west and nearer to New York.
“The crowd was tough today. New Yorkers, they are tough people,” said Scheffler, who concluded four strokes adrift in joint fourth place.
“There was a good turnout from the fans. You like seeing the fans cheer for you. I think sometimes it can get a little too much when balls are kind of going off greens and you start hearing cheers. That felt a bit much to me.
“But at the end of the day, I can’t control fan behaviour. Being in the arena is not for everybody: there’s been crowds that have been for me in my career; there’s been crowds that have been significantly against me in my career.
“I think Portrush (where he won last year’s Open) was a scenario for me where Rory is in Ireland, not far from where he grew up. Crowds can be tough.
“I think it shows a lot about Wyndham, how he handled not only this golf course but I think the crowd today as well and is a well-deserving champion.”
US Open 2026 prize money
1. Wyndham Clark – $4.5 million
2. Sam Burns – $2.43 million
3. Tom Kim – $1,532,530
T-4. J.T. Poston, Keith Mitchell, Scottie Scheffler – $920,882
T-7. Joaquin Niemann, Tyrrell Hatton, Gary Woodland, Sam Stevens – $617,090
T-11. Justin Rose, Aaron Rai, John Parry, Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schauffele, Sahith Theegala – $405,862
T-17. Ludvig Åberg, Justin Thomas, Ben Griffin, Akshay Bhatia, Collin Morikawa – $280,966
22. Matt Fitzpatrick – $230,220
T-23. Ben James, Ryan Fox, Jackson Koivun (a), Ben Kohles, Pierceson Coody, Ryder Cowan (a), Alex Fitzpatrick, Corey Conners, Emiliano Grillo – $181,101
T-32. Max McGreevy, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Maverick McNealy, Brian Harman, Zac Blair, Keegan Bradley – $128,756
T-39. Jacob Bridgeman, Johnny Keefer, Miles Russell (a), Robert MacIntyre – $101,859
T-43. Max Greyserman, Chris Gotterup, Harry Higgs, Michael Brennan, Cameron Young, Laurie Canter, Niklas Nørgaard, Ryo Hisatsune, Sungjae Im, Michael Kim – $72,592
T-53. Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Kurt Kitayama, Angel Hidalgo – $51,467
T-56. Peter Uihlein, Nico Echavarria, Marek Fleming (a), Jordan Spieth, Bud Cauley – $48,625
T-61. Jackson Van Paris, Spencer Tibbits – $47,242
T-63. Eric Lee (a), Caleb Surratt – $46,551
T-65. James Nicholas, Russell Henley, Neal Shipley, Hideki Matsuyama, Andrew Putnam, William Mouw – $44,938
71. Patrick Rodgers – $43,324
72. Dylan Wu – $42,863
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