'Only human,' four-time major winner Rory McIlroy finishes two strokes behind Cameron Smith

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Each time Rory McIlroy ventured out of his hotel room in St. Andrews, Scotland, this week, he could see the big yellow scoreboard above the first and 18th holes at the Old Course.

At the start of the final round of the 150th edition of The Open on Sunday, McIlroy's name was at the top, along with Norway's Viktor Hovland. But after 18 holes, McIlroy's name had slipped to third after he had another major championship slip through his hands.

McIlroy, a four-time major winner, finished two shots behind Australia's Cameron Smith, who carded an 8-under 64 on Sunday and finished 20 under after 72 holes.

«I'm only human. I'm not a robot,» McIlroy said. «Of course you think about it, and you envision it, and you want to envision it.… And every time I go out, I'm trying to envision McIlroy at the top name on that leaderboard and how did that feel?

»At the start of the day, it was at the top, but at the start of tomorrow, it won't be. Of course, you've got to let yourself dream. You've got to let yourself think about it and what it would be like, but once I was on the golf course, it was just [the] task at hand and trying to play the best golf I possibly could."

McIlroy, 33, has now played eight full seasons since his last major championship victory at the 2014 PGA Championship. Since then, there have been 31 majors played, which were won by 23 different golfers — just not him.

It was the 17th time McIlroy has finished in the top 10 in a major, the most by any player since 2015, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He has finished in the top five nine times, including in three of four this season.

«I'll be OK,» McIlroy said. «At the end of the day, it's not life or death. I'll have other chances to win the