Yet Another Great Opportunity to End the Majors Skid Looms Sunday for Rory McIlroy at the U.S. Open
LOS ANGELES — Wyndham Clark proved a good foil on Saturday. As the third round of the U.S. Open was coming to a close at Los Angeles Country Club, the guy with little major championship experience stiffed his approach to the final green from 180 yards, made the birdie putt and knocked Rory McIlroy out of the final pairing with Rickie Fowler.
Rickie and Rory would have been the television dream. They’ve had their battles, although likely far less than expected when both came on the scene as hotshot upstarts more than a decade ago.
It was Fowler who finished in the top five of each of McIlroy’s last two major victories, way back in 2014. Fowler joined elite company at the time, joining Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to finish in the top five in all four majors in the same year. (Later joined by Jordan Spieth in 2015.)
All, including McIlroy, thought Fowler’s time was near.
McIlroy, having won four major championships in three years including two in a row, was destined to add to that total in due course, too.
Neither player has followed up.
They seemed headed for a final-round, last-group duel Sunday before Clark did his part to alter an easy storyline. The winner of the Wells Fargo Championship last month for his first career PGA Tour victory looked like the cool veteran as he played that final hole.
In truth, it might be the best thing that could have happened to McIlroy. He will be grouped with Scottie Scheffler instead, and while the 2022 Masters champion could also have his say in the outcome, perhaps being one group removed from the end will do McIlroy some good.
There is no less pressure on McIlroy, however. Getting that fifth major has proved elusive, coming from all sorts of places on the leaderboard. He would join Brooks Koepka as rare players to get to five major victories. When Koepka did it at the PGA Championship last month, he became just the 20th male golfer with five majors or more.
McIlroy always seemed destined to get there before any of the current era of players, only to see Koepka blow by him, winning all five since McIlroy captured his last.
"It's been such a long time since I've done it," McIlroy said after a third-round 69 left him a shot behind Clark and Fowler. "I'm going out there to try to execute a game plan, and I feel like over the last three days I've executed that game plan really, really well, and I just need to do that for one more day.’’
McIlroy was understated and calm after his round. In each of his four major victories, he played in the final group, holding big leads at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional and the 2014 British Open at Royal Liverpool. He led by three through 54 holes at the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah.
It was at the PGA at Valhalla where things were more tight. He led by just one over Bernd Wiesberger, by two over Fowler and by three over Phil Mickelson and Jason Day. He prevailed by one over Mickelson.
In each of the last two weeks, McIlroy was in position to win but faded in the final round. A final-round 72 at the Canadian Open last week dropped him to a tie for ninth. He shot a final-round 75 at the Memorial and tied for seventh. He was also tied for seventh at the PGA Championship.
For all that has been fraught with McIlroy’s game in recent weeks, there have been some good results.
"I’ve went through periods over the last few years where I haven’t been patient enough and I’ve taken on too much," McIlroy said. "But I think we’ve had some tests recently where you have to display patience, and hopefully those few experiences recently will help me."
Since capturing that fourth major in 2014, McIlroy has had 18 top-10s in major championships, including nine top-5s. The most recent was the most painful. The 54-hole co-leader at the British Open last summer along with Viktor Hovland, McIlroy hit every green, didn’t make a bogey, shot 2-under-par 70—and lost to Cam Smith’s 64, finishing third.
"I didn’t do much wrong," McIlroy said afterward. "I just didn’t do much right."
That and perhaps the 2018 Masters, where he was in the final group with Patrick Reed and tied for fifth, were his best chances.
The quest has been filled with more obstacles this year. McIlroy has clearly been distracted by and engulfed in the off-course maneuverings with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf that last week surprisingly resulted in an agreement to be partners. That news caught everyone, even McIlroy, by surprise.
After a news conference in Toronto where he laid out his feelings on the matter, he contended again, only to come up short a week ago. He declined a pre-tournament news conference this week, skipped more media questions after an opening-round 65, and was somewhat clipped with his answers on Friday. On Saturday, after getting to the brink again, his chat with reporters was brief.
"I think I've played smart off the tee and I’ve done what I’ve needed to do to get the ball in play," he said. "I just need to do that for one more day."
Seems easy enough.
But for McIlroy, that has not proven to be the case over the past nine years.
Another great opportunity awaits on Sunday.