In the immediate aftermath of the 2024 US Open, the majority of the column inches and water-cooler chatter is being split between how well Bryson DeChambeau played to capture his second Major championship and what on earth happened to Rory McIlroy during the back nine at Pinehurst No.2 on Sunday?
While DeChambeau fulfilled a long-time ambition of adding another Major to his resume, McIlroy’s own dream of ending a 10-year drought in the four biggest events turned into his worst nightmare.
The Northern Irishman has come close to adding Major number five before, but never fallen short in this style. The question now being asked is ‘what happens next for McIlroy and does he ever bounce back from this?’ Four Golf Monthly staff writers try and find an answer…
Nick Bonfield
I had real concerns about McIlroy’s Major performances before the US Open and those have been strengthened now, for obvious reasons. If McIlroy had made that putt on the 72nd hole, the pressure on Bryson to up-and-down for a playoff would have been extraordinary.
It’s something he’ll never forget, and making three bogeys in four holes after getting himself into a commanding position will play on his mind every day for at least the next couple of years. It’s truly a sink or swim moment for McIlroy, and if I’m being honest, I’m leaning towards sink at the moment. I hope I’m wrong.
Jonny Leighfield
It depends how you define ‘bounce back.’ If it’s a case of him playing well again soon, absolutely. If it means winning at least once more this season, I wouldn’t be surprised. But, less than 24 hours after the final round began, my immediate reaction is that he probably doesn’t win another Major for the rest of his career. And even if he were to manage it (I sincerely hope he does) then it’s highly unlikely to come at Royal Troon as the year’s final Major will surely arrive before the Northern Irishman has truly had enough time to suitably deal with what happened.
It was overwhelmingly evident that the strain of attempting to win another Major was affecting him badly down the back nine at Pinehurst. He appeared tense – opposite to the aggression and drive that he has exhibited during other victories, specifically when dispatching Sam Burns during the Sunday Singles matches at the Ryder Cup last year.
The only caveat to my above statements is that he does have an elite mentality – far more sturdy than the likes of us mere mortals – and could well be able to recover given a bit of time to process and deal with what happened. Despite giving him a 1% chance to win another Major in his career, I feel that if he does – and it is a huge ‘if’ – he is capable of winning two or three more after that. But right now, last week seemed to suggest that the monkey on his back is so big, it’s crushing him.
To put it in simple terms, yes, I think McIlroy will bounce back. Okay, he hasn’t won a Major in over a decade, but whenever he has had heartbreak in those tournaments he has followed it up with wins at events like the Tour Championship and Genesis Scottish Open, for example.
Obviously these aren’t golf’s big four, but after near miss after near miss, the ball has to drop eventually and, arguably, there’s no other player in the world more determined to win a Major than Rory.
McIlroy has been excellent at bouncing back throughout his career time and time again. After his infamous Masters meltdown in 2011, he went and won the US Open just two months later. After his Portrush heartbreak in 2019, where he missed the cut as The Open returned to Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years, he went on to win the FedEx Cup and WGC-HSBC Champions over the following months.
After the 2022 Open loss to Cam Smith, he would also bounce back to win the FedEx Cup the following month. Remember at LACC he said he’d go through 100 Sundays like this to get his hands on another Major? This will be a very hard loss to take, but luckily for him he’s got another shot in just four weeks’ time.
The 2024 US Open might well be the kick up the proverbial behind that McIlroy needed to get him to the path of where he needs to be. I’m certain he bounces back and goes down as an all-time great. He is too good to be remembered as a choker.