Rory McIlroy aiming to continue bounce-back ‘theme’ following US Open heartbreak

Rory McIlroy believes he can continue the “theme” of his career and bounce back quickly from his heartbreaking loss in the US Open at Pinehurst.

McIlroy briefly held a two-shot lead with five holes to play but bogeyed three of the last four, missing from two feet and six inches on the 16th and three feet and nine inches on the last to finish a shot behind Bryson DeChambeau.

It was the 35-year-old’s best chance to win his first major since 2014 and brought back memories of squandering a four-shot lead in the final round of the 2011 Masters with a closing 80.

McIlroy recovered remarkably quickly to win his first major in the US Open two months later and will hope he can repeat the trick in next week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon.

“I look back on that day [at Pinehurst] just like I look back on some of the toughest moments in my career and I’ll learn a lot from it and hopefully put that to good use,” McIlroy said in a pre-tournament press conference ahead of his title defence in the Genesis Scottish Open.

“It’s something that’s been a bit of a theme throughout my career, I’ve been able to take those tough moments and turn them into great things not very long after that.

“It’s been a while since I’ve won a major but I felt worse after some other losses. I felt worse after Augusta in ’11 and I felt worse after St Andrews [2022 Open]. It was up there with the tough losses but not the toughest.

“The way I’d describe Pinehurst on Sunday was it was a great day until it wasn’t.

“I did things on that Sunday that I haven’t been able to do the last couple of years, took control of the golf tournament, held putts when I needed to – well, mostly – made birdies and really got myself in there.

“It was a tough day, it was a tough few