After barely missing out on victory at the US Open, Rory McIlroy has already shifted his focus to breaking his major drought at The 151st Open next month.
McIlroy started the final round at Los Angeles Country Club a stroke off the lead and had a dream start with an opening-hole eagle, only to finish with 16 pars and a bogey to shoot a level-par 70 and finish a shot behind Wyndham Clark.
The Northern Irishman’s runner-up finish is his fourth consecutive global top-10, but it extends his winless major streak to the 2014 PGA Championship, with McIlroy now focusing on being ready for the year’s last men’s major at Royal Liverpool.
“I’m getting closer,” McIlroy said. “The more I put myself in these situations, the sooner or later it will happen for me. Just need to regroup and refocus for Hoylake in a few weeks.
“I feel like the last two real chances I’ve had at majors have been pretty similar performances, like St Andrews last year and then here. I’m not doing anything wrong, but I haven’t made a birdie since the first hole of the day.
“I’m just trying to be a little more efficient with my opportunities and my appearance.” When you’re in contention for the last round of the US Open, you play the way you want to play. Over the course of the round, there were two or three shots that I’d want to have back.
“I’ll play the Travellers [Championship] next week, as well as the Scottish Open, but right now I’m focused on getting ready for Liverpool.”
Despite his near-miss, McIlroy remains upbeat.
The former world number one shone from tee to green all week, hitting 59 greens in regulation over four rounds, but battled to acclimatise to the pace of the courses and had a chilly putter on the last day.
“I thought I executed my game plan really well, hitting a lot of fairways, hitting a lot of greens, which is what you should do at a US Open,” McIlroy continued.
“If anything, I felt like my speed control was a little off the last two days when the greens started to get a little crispy, and I think that’s why I didn’t hole a lot of putts.”
“I don’t think I was hitting bad putts; I was just hitting them at the wrong speed.” Some fell short, while others went too far.”
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