Rory McIlroy left the second hole at Pinehurst as soon as Bryson DeChambeau putted out to win by one stroke.
Several reporters McIlroy fell to the ground, then quickly ran to his shuttle and sprinted off the golf course, as captured on video by Golf.com’s Alan Bastable.
McIlroy did not give media interviews or speak to anyone from NBC Sports.
McIlroy has had a hard time dealing with disappointments in recent major championships, and this latest one hurt worse than all the others combined.
He saw Totally disappointed. Of course, that’s how I felt in the grading room afterwards.
The Northern Irishman tee’d at the par-3 15th hole at 8 under par, with DeChambeau trailing by one stroke, but he hit a 7-iron over the green and finished with a bogey at 4. His loss only got worse from there.
On the next hole, McIlroy made a 2-foot, 6-inch putt for par. Inexplicably overlookedTwo consecutive bogeys put him back at 6 under par, the same as DeChambeau, with two holes remaining.
After going up and down to save par on the 17th hole, McIlroy pulled his drive left into native territory on the 18th hole, drawing a bad lie with wiregrass just in front of the ball. He then hit his second shot just short of the green, narrowly escaping the sand trap guarding the front of the putting surface. McIlroy hit his third shot 3 feet, 9 inches behind the hole and missed that putt, just like he had on the 16th hole.
Thus, McIlroy dropped three strokes over the final four holes, and his collapse at the 124th U.S. Open will forever be remembered.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
