Rory McIlroy said Monday that his dramatic defeat at the U.S. Open was perhaps the “toughest” day of his professional career and vowed to bounce back at next month’s British Open.
McIlroy, speaking publicly for the first time since his blunder at Pinehurst on Sunday cost him a one-stroke victory over Bryson DeChambeau, said he plans to take a break from golf until the Scottish Open, a warm-up tournament for the British Open, from July 11-14.
“Yesterday was a tough day, probably the toughest day in my 17 years as a professional golfer,” McIlroy said in a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter).
McIlroy, who left Pinehurst in a hurry without speaking to the media on Sunday, lost a two-stroke lead with five holes to go and bogeyed three of the final four holes to hand the championship to DeChambeau.
Two of McIlroy’s bogeys came after missing putts from under four feet.
But the 35-year-old Northern Irishman insists the positives of his disastrous US Open defeat outweigh the negatives.
“Looking back on this week, I have some regrets throughout the tournament, particularly missing putts on the 16th and 18th holes on the final day,” McIlroy said, “but as always, I’m going to focus on the positives far outweighing the negatives this week.”
“As I said at the start of the tournament, I feel closer than ever to winning the next major championship.
“If there was one word to describe my career it would be ‘tenacity.’ Over the past 17 years I have demonstrated tenacity time and time again and I will continue to demonstrate it.”
“I’m going to take a few weeks off from competition to sort everything out and regroup in preparation for my defence of the Genesis Scottish Open and the Royal Troon Open.
“See you in Scotland.”
Meanwhile, McIlroy paid tribute to the charismatic DeChambeau, describing the American LIV golfer as a worthy US Open champion.
“Congratulations to Bryson,” McIlroy said. “He’s a worthy champion and exactly what professional golf needs right now. I think we can all agree on that.”
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