Rory McIlroy once threatened to punch himself after suffering a horror show at the 2019 Open Championship.
The Northern Irishman was competing in his first major on home turf, with The Open taking place at Royal Portrush in County Antrim.
McIlroy was expected to deliver a fairytale… what followed was a nightmare.
It got off to the worst possible start when McIlroy equalled his worst-ever score for a single hole in the opening round.
Notching up an unthinkable quad-bogey eight, the Ulsterman also hit a tee shot out of bounds that smashed a fan’s phone screen during an opening round to forget.
He eventually slipped to an eight-over-par for the opening round, having struggled on the 16th and 18th holes.
It left McIlroy on the verge of missing the cut in perhaps the biggest major championship of his career up until that point.
Reacting to his disastrous opener, he said: “I want to punch myself.”
Being the showman he is, McIlroy didn’t let up on his charge and in the second round he hit a stunning score of 65. The crowd were daring to dream.
Dreams that were cut short on the final hole when he missed the cut by one shot.
Not one to shy away from confronting his mistakes, McIlroy gave an emotional interview after being knocked out – one which left both him and the interviewer tearing up.
Speaking to Tim Barter for Sky Sports, the four-time major winner said: “Part of me is very disappointed not to be here for the weekend,” he said, pausing to contain his emotions.
“Part of me disappointed, emotional. But I am happy how I played.
“The support I got out there was incredible. And you could see on that back nine, if I had got some of that momentum yesterday…
“I went with it today, and that’s what I was planning to do all week. Yesterday gave me a mountain to climb, but I dug in there and showed really good resilience.”
McIlroy will be hoping to banish the demons of Royal Portrush when The Open returns to Irish shores later this year.
The County Down-born ace is still on the lookout for the elusive fifth major title, having come agonisingly close during last year’s US Open at Pinehurst.
If fairytales do exist, it will be McIlroy hoisting the Claret Jug aloft when the golfing world descends on Northern Ireland in the summer.
