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19th June 2023
01:03pm BST

"It is, but at the same time, when I do finally win this next major, it's going to be really, really sweet. I would go through 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another major championship."On the No Laying Up podcast, Kevin Van Valkenburg spoke of a moment between McIlroy and his manager, Sean O'Flaherty before he faced the media microphones and before he went into the scoring tent.
"He leaned over to Sean, his manager," said Van Valkenburg, "and said, 'St Andrew's all over again'... "Definitely, he felt the sting of not being able to putt well enough. The phrase he used in the presser was, 'I didn't play poorly but I didn't do enough'."McIlroy knew. We all knew. The fact that he vocalised what most of us were thinking shows how much those two major runs will haunt him. [caption id="attachment_289147" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
Rory McIlroy reacts after missing a long eagle putt attempt on the first green during the final round of the 123rd U.S. Open Championship at The Los Angeles Country Club. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)[/caption]
"The last real two chances I've had at majors I feel like have been pretty similar performances, like St Andrews last year and then here," he told reporters. "Not doing a lot wrong, but I didn't make a birdie since the first hole today. Just trying to be a little more, I guess, efficient with my opportunities and my looks.""Again, overall when you're in contention going into the final round of a U.S. Open, I played the way I wanted to play," he added. "There was just a couple of shots, two or three shots over the course of the round that I'd like to have back." Honest to a fault, as he so often is, McIlroy admitted that he did not linger near a TV screen for too long when Wyndham Clark - a worthy winner - stood over his tap-in par to win. "You don't want to wish bad on anyone, but you're really hoping for a three-putt," McIlroy said. "You're hoping to somehow get into a playoff to keep giving yourself a chance. "You're rooting for one guy, and that guy is yourself at that point. Yeah, I guess you're just hoping for the other guy to slip up or make a mistake or give you a glimmer of hope. Wyndham was pretty much rock solid all day, and that was a great two-putt at the last." Up next, in mid July, is The Open at Hoylake, in Liverpool. McIlroy had his last major win there. He will be one of the favourites, again, and his undoubted skills will put him in the mix. We have not given up hope, nor have so many others, but last night hurt. For McIlroy, it hurts times a thousand. Related articles:
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