What’s Next For Rory McIlroy After US Open Collapse?

Matt Adams recounts Rory McIlroy’s gallant effort at the 2024 US Open that saw 3 missed putts over the last 4 holes which left McIlroy as runner-up by just one stroke.

B is one of the bests to ever play and being able to fight against a a great like that is pretty special for him to miss that putt I’d never wished on anybody um it just happened to play out that way and he he’ll win he’ll win multiple more major championships there’s no doubt and I think that fire in him is is going to continue to grow um and I have nothing but respect for how he plays the game of golf because to be honest when he was when he was climbing up the leader board and he was too ahead I was like uh oh uh oh um but luckily things might went my way today uh gracious position by Bryson to shamell talking about Rory maroy who he beat by one stroke at the 124th Us open at Pinehurst course number two the the putt that he was referring to the context was the putt at 18 but if you went to 15 if you would say even the the putt at at 16 right as Justin Ray told us 496 for 496 from 3 feet it it it seemed as though troubles with the putter that was at 18 at the worst possible times was a demon that had no longer possession of Rory mroy but it reared its head at the worst possible times at this US Open r ended up bogging three of his final four holes he had a Scramble for the par that he made at 17 that’s what sealed his fate to ensure that he lost by one but to Bryson’s comment that and there you can see the card that illustrates the same he just leaked oil coming in now was that because he has he hasn’t won in 10 years and the weight of that was upon his shoulders in other words was this a choke the numbers would indicate the same there are many that will that will be quick to his defense the the the gulf media establishment will will take that role there’s a little doubt in my mind to say no no no no no this wasn’t don’t use that a CW this was about you know the game of golf and these things happen in the game of golf you still saw three bogeys in the final four holes this video you’re watching right now Jay Busby is is the source of it this was where he leaving it didn’t address the media uh he got a lot of criticism online for that that this part of it I kind of I kind of have this feeling that he was so disappointed he just couldn’t do it but I did see comments from people that I thought had Merit too they were like this was a huge opportunity where you had this sharp contrast between Bryson becoming the golfer of the people right where Rory mroy who is so popular and has such crazy wild support from the people they there he is as he was waiting to see how his fate played out a fate that he no longer had possession of in his own hands and you can see how dejected he looks in in that photo and then of course this is from Jason soel with with photos from I presume his mobile phone with pictures of of Rory leaving but the comment I was talking about where someone was saying you know this was an opportunity for Rory mroy to also show a bridge and and to be there to shake Bryson’s hand and say Well done maybe I’ll get you next time but instead he was just overcome by the moment now I expect that we’re going to hear from Rory soon enough and I fully anticipate because of who Rory actually is that he’s going to say look I’m sorry I just couldn’t speak at that time I was I was too overcome by the emotions Rory is pretty honest about those things so Dom I’m curious about what you’re hearing from the people I know you’ve got the question out there to say is is this just a another stumble or is this a sign of something deeper like maybe maybe the end of a run for Rory mroy what what are you hearing from the people in terms of your survey and comments question of the day officially rereading it can Roy mroy overcome another heartbreaking loss or is this the end obviously that’s a bit dramatic the way that’s phrased but you know what I mean is this is it too much is it all too much is this just something he can’t overcome with the pressure you referring to three options first one is he’s done it is too much the next one is he’s fine he’ll be fine it’s just golf and then I gave a third option of just don’t care maybe people just don’t care I don’t care about this question I don’t care about Rory who cares right now 49 got to be honest with you Matt this surprised me a little bit 49% say he’ll be fine he’s going to be fine it’s no big deal and only 25% are saying he’s done it’s too much pressure he’s done it’s over so I think that’s interesting um I I anticipated more people I don’t know what you thought but I anticipated more people would be thinking that it’s too much for him and that he’d be done but that’s not the case I mean if you look at his major championships I know we don’t have a Graphic for this but I mean I’m looking at his major championships since 2015 since his last victory when he won the open in 2014 he won the PGA in 2014 if you look at every subsequent year he has had a top 10 finish or multiple top 10 finishes in major championships every single year since that time yeah I mean in most cases multiple 2015 a 4th and a 9th 2016 a 10th and a 5th 17 7th and 4th 18 a fifth and a second 19 an eth and a nth 20 a fifth and I mean this is in 2022 a second and eighth a fifth and a third a runner up in 23 at the at the US Open again of course a runner up yesterday I mean if you keep knocking on the door eventually eventually even if the pressure is crushing even if it might be too much if you keep doing that Matt aren’t you just going to fall backwards into winning just it’s just gonna happen by chance is it not yeah first there’s a lot of things to answer here first of all to to your results once again the greatest audience in the world I think the people nailed it I and I agree with them with the perspective that they have on Ro maroy where the vast majority are saying no he he’s going to get by this that there is there’s no doubt in my mind that this one is very very painful even by evidence but with the actions that we saw from Rory himself uh there is no doubt in my mind that this will also leave scar tissue and there’s also no doubt in my mind that what we saw the nervy Finish was not simply because he hasn’t won in 10 years uh a major championship I also do think it’s it’s the accumulation of the years and the wear and tear if you please that goes along with that those close calls to to the point you’re talking about with what Rory has accomplished though this from uh the stats that we get following tournaments wor maoy records his 11th runner-up finish on the PGA tour and fourth in a major championship including back-to-back us opens he becomes a fourth player since 1920 with six consecutive top 10 finishes at the US Open joining Ben Hogan with 12 from 1940 to 1956 Bobby Jones with seven from 1920 to 1926 and Jack Nicholas was six from 1977 to 1982 so as to what this means I think for Rory maroy moving forward a couple of things obviously the pressure of closing at a major had an impact on Rory maroy and again I know that there’s going to be people that have the discussion that that shrug their shoulders and go this is just golf this is just this happens in golf uh this to me was more than just golf this is about a player a worldclass player a player that at many times has been described as the best player in the world in time and context right that could not hold it together in those finishing holes that Bogi three of his four finishing holes and as I mentioned earlier in the program concerningly there were a few demons that snuck back into his game namely the putter that looked like it had been something that had been resolved we keep putting up the the ex uh that was posted by by uh Justin Ray 496 of 496 from three feet but when the three feet meant the absolute most during that time span uh he was unable to convert it it wasn’t exactly three feet through a few of those putts but I’m using it uh in a broader brush to explain that was a problem so what that leads me to is Royal trun we have one more major left in 2024 and if right now if if the question had been question of the day if you please Dom if the question of the day today had been do you think Rory can win at Royal trun my answer emphatically is yes however I don’t think Rory out in front unless he has a considerable lead would be the Rory that that would be the Rory that will win at Royal trun I actually think that if Rory is trailing by one or two if he is the pursuer instead of the pursued in that instance I think there’s a much better chance of Rory closing but Rory was hitting the ball so well all week even right from the opening round where he was burning multiple edges he easily could have been eight under in that opening round the putts just weren’t dropping at that time so for Rory mroy at at Royal trun do I think that this destroyed him in terms of his major championship Pursuit no do I think it will fuel him yes do I think that there are some some parts of the ship that are taking on water that need to be shored up yeah in as much as they can be uh given again circumstance if it repeats itself that’s why I think if he’s coming slightly from behind his chances are far better as to what we’re hearing from the people though Dom I know you’re getting responses in so uh let’s hear yeah obviously there’s a ton coming in about Rory uh on both sides of it uh that putt on Paul writes that putt on 18 reminded me of Doug Sanders at St Andrews Surfas says if Roy didn’t have the Yips Under Pressure he’d have 10 Majors another 10 Majors uh rough effort for Rory they say NBT 3 writes I felt bad for him Greg says Rory had a perfect opportunity to endear himself with the fans but he’s just not mature enough to get past it well he wasn’t maybe in agree with that yeah Chase rights he’s gracious 99% out of a 100 times I got to give him a break on this one I’m sure he’s referring kind how feel car driving away the golf press should ignore him they’re writing Rory needs to learn that there’s more to life than golf I think that’s what he’s learned pretty brutally over the last two years you know I don’t know I don’t more going on off the course than on but at the time when when he was running through his height of his prowers would you have said the same thing about Tiger Woods or was it because golf is their life that they perform the way that they do right so I I don’t I know if I that that assessment is not one that I i’ necessarily agree with that this you know you got to learn that that that life is about more than golf well for these guys their life is golf if that balance helps them perform better more power to them that’s great but I I I don’t think we can broad brush and and hit him with that tag I don’t think that’s fair so to that point let’s not forget Rory’s been addressing major major issues in his life off the links plus everything that’s been going on with piff and the meetings in the board over the last couple years uh let’s see here the everyone’s going to forget about this in two days just all of it everything 24hour news cycle US Open never happened we’re just move on that’s that’s that’s also not these these events these events reverberate echo through time look at how often we were reliving what happened in 1999 with payt Stewart Derek writes total choke Job full stop Sean writes this is not a one-off he put the ball in the wrong place above the hole had it approach been better the putt would have been easier I do think again for what it’s worth again we saw Bryson miss a short one on 15 I I heard I heard a a player in a practice round because I I obviously I was there when I was on uh I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday and I was there one of the players referred to the greens as quote like putting on marble I mean that’s that’s going to make it difficult so I do think the course has something to do with this in terms of the difficulty I don’t think that there’s a lot there’s a lot more coming in here but I I want to end on this one which I think is the the correct one to end on without Rory there’s no epic battle on major championship and I agree with that and the the pressure and the excitement and the nervous that we’ve been discussing this entire program it only works because they’re they they were in The Crucible together and it was a tandem effort down down down the stretch of those last four I agree with that but the truth of the matter is is that at in this time Rory was consumed by the moment and Bryson defined it it’s that simple that’s what took place