Rory McIlroy breaks down in tears as he makes shocking confession about his poor performance
Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy is no stranger to heartbreak on the golf course, especially this year, as he suffered a similar fate at the just-concluded 2024 Irish Open after narrowly missing out at the U.S. Open. McIlroy was playing in front of a home crowd at the Royal County Down Golf Championship Course in Northern Ireland and looked the obvious favorite to win, but it would have been a fairytale story had he won. Unfortunately, victory was out of reach as he lost by one stroke to Danish golfer Rasmus Højgaard.
Rory McIlroy went into Sunday’s final round one stroke ahead of Matteo Mannasello. His lead stretched to four holes early in the match, but his two bogeys paved the way for Hodges. Meanwhile, the Dane capitalized with four birdies in the final five holes.
Never losing hope, crowd favourite McIlroy attempted eagle with a superb iron shot from the fairway. However, the resulting putt narrowly missed the hole. It was the 35-year-old’s second narrow loss this year, following his defeat to Bryson DeChambeau at the 2024 US Open in June.
In a post-match press interview, a visibly upset McIlroy talked about his misfortune this year.
“I am getting used to it unfortunately this year. Hopefully, the tide will turn soon and we will be able to turn all these crises into victories.
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The five-time major winner also reflected on his game and how it suddenly tipped the scales in favor of Rasmus Højgaard. “For the majority of the day, I felt like I was in control of the tournament. I felt like I was playing it safe and doing what I needed to do,” he said. He made a bunch of pars and a couple of birdies, and then obviously, the two bogeys on the 15th and 17th opened the door for someone to perform as well as Rasmus did on the final hole. Missing the green just on 15 is a place you can’t go, and then I just misjudged the pace with my first shot on 17.”
“Overall, of course I’m very disappointed not to have won, but I’m going to try to enjoy it and go to Wentworth next week.