PINEHURST, N.C. — Rory McIlroy had been waiting for this for 10 years.
His first major championship victory since 2014 was within reach.
As the scorching North Carolina sun set on the second hole at Pinehurst, McIlroy held the U.S. Open trophy in his hands and the end of his highly publicized drought without a major championship win appeared to be nearing.
it was Very close.
And then it was all gone. It was painful, it was brutal, it was quick.
When the 124th U.S. Open came to a close, it wasn’t McIlroy who celebrated on the 18th green at Pinehurst, the 72nd and final hole of the tournament. It was Bryson DeChambeau who hoisted the trophy, having done everything McIlroy couldn’t in a fierce final hole on the back nine.
With McIlroy’s putter, and more importantly his nerves, frozen in the heat of intense pressure, it was DeChambeau who hit the decisive shot.
It was DeChambeau who started the spontaneous, raw and wild greenside celebration.
And with the cheers from the huge gallery on the 18th hole still ringing out, the most heartbreaking scene of the week was unfolding behind the clubhouse.
So, shocked and in tears, McIlroy ran straight to his loaner Lexus without speaking to anyone and sped out of the parking lot.
McIlroy has had plenty of scars in the decade since his last major championship win, he’s played very well, he’s had a few close calls that didn’t pay off.
But he may need surgery to remove the scar tissue, which will be the most difficult to reconcile and recover from of his career.
McIlroy birdied the 14th hole to move to eight under par and two strokes ahead of DeChambeau, but he again bogeyed three of his final four holes, leaving us to wonder where he goes from here.
McIlroy fell to 7 under after bogeying the par-3 15th hole, the same hole he bogeyed in Saturday’s third round.
Then came a shocking miss on the 16th hole, missing a two-foot par putt, and it looked like he was completely pulled.
And then there was the worst, most costly stroke of his career, a missed 4-foot par putt on the 72nd hole that didn’t even touch the rim of the cup.
If McIlroy had made the putt, he would have forced DeChambeau, who was struggling with his tee shot on the 18th hole just behind him, into par on the final hole to tie the score and force a playoff.
Instead, McIlroy’s mistake gave DeChambeau the chance to make the greatest par save in major championship history and win the championship.
For McIlroy, Sunday’s finish will be hard to swallow until he wins his fifth major championship.
“Rory is one of the greatest players of all time,” DeChambeau said. “I have no doubt that Rory’s fire will only grow. He’s a very determined player. I think he’s going to win more majors.”
Mathieu Pavon, DeChambeau’s final-round playing partner, sympathized with McIlroy’s grief.
“At the end of the day, we’re all human,” Pavon said. “Rory has been chasing another major title for years. He’s one of the best players in the world, a true champion. I know how tough it is.”
“The more you want it, the harder it is; the higher your expectations of yourself, the harder it is.”
McIlroy has played in 37 majors since his last major win at the 2014 PGA Championship, with 21 top 10s and 11 top fives. Sunday’s runner-up finish was his fourth in that span.
“I think I’m embracing the questions the golf course is asking me,” McIlroy said after Saturday’s third round. “I’ve started to try and adopt this style of golf over the last few years.”
McIlroy finished the season tied for ninth at the U.S. Open in 2019, tied for eighth in 2020, tied for seventh in 2021 and tied for fifth in 2022. He finished second to Wyndham Clark, who won at Los Angeles Country Club last year, and of course, second to DeChambeau on Sunday.
He went to bed Saturday night and woke up Sunday morning confident he had a chance to overtake DeChambeau to win and end his championship drought saga.
“Going into the final day of the LACC, it’s pretty much the same situation as it was last year,” McIlroy said after Saturday’s third round. “So … it’s a situation I’m familiar with … I’ve been here so many times before, and hopefully I can play the golf I need to go further tomorrow.”
That hope turned to fear over those fateful final four holes.
And now, wherever McIlroy goes from here, he’ll need more mental strength than he’s ever known in his professional career.
