Rory McIlroy’s US Open choke will ‘haunt’ him ‘for the rest of his life’: Nick Faldo

Rory McIlory’s missed chance to break a decade-long major drought will be an enduring nightmare, according to Nick Faldo.

The six-time major winner believes McIlroy will forever rue the late collapse that cost him the 2024 U.S. Open trophy.

“That’s going to haunt Rory for the rest of his life, those two misses,” Faldo said on Sky Sports during Sunday’s broadcast.

A day later, McIlroy agreed with Faldo’s take.

“As I reflect on my week, I’ll rue a few things over the course of the tournament, mostly the 2 missed putts on 16 and 18 on the final day,” McIroy wrote in a statement on X. “But, as I always try to do, I’ll look at the positives of the week that far outweigh the negatives.

“As I said at the start of the tournament, I feel closer to winning my next major championship than I ever have. The one word that I would describe my career as is resilient. I’ve shown my resilience over and over again in the last 17 years and I will again.”

McIlroy, who hasn’t won a major since the 2014 PGA Championship, came agonizingly close to ending the drought with a two-shot lead after four birdies in five holes starting from the ninth.

However, the Northern Irishman botched his chance with crucial missed par putts on the 16th and 18th holes, allowing Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open Champion, to clinch his second title.

Following his victory, DeChambeau expressed sympathy for his fellow competitor.

“For him to miss that putt [on 18], I would never wish that on anybody,” he said. “Rory is one of the best to ever play. I’m sure it will fuel Rory’s fire even more. He’s a strong-minded individual. He’ll win multiple more major championships.’’

As the sun set in at Pinehurst, MclIroy made a beeline to his car just six minutes after  DeChambeau’s last putt. The four-time major champion didn’t speak to anyone, particularly the media. 

“SportsCenter” anchor Scott Van Pelt shared his own take on McIlroy’s abrupt departure from the course. 

“Now, Rory is one of my very favorite people in the sport for a lot of different reasons. One, he’s a thinker and he answers things thoughtfully. He’s also a great champion. And today, understandably, a bitter pill, a chance to end this major list drought, and it slips away as it did,” Van Pelt said Sunday on ESPN.

“How it got away on this Sunday and the fact that he walked away without speaking about it will both be remembered,” he added.

Following his gut-wrenching end to the tournament, McIlroy was seen on Monday with his wife Erica Stoll and their 3-year-old daughter, Poppy, marking their first public appearance since their divorce proceedings were resolved.

On May 13 – a day after McIlroy won the Wells Fargo Championship and three days before the PGA Championship –  he filed for divorce from Stoll, his wife of seven years. 

However, two days before the U.S. Open commenced, he confirmed that the two were staying together. 

Sunday’s tournament-sealing putt marked the second consecutive year McIlroy has placed second in the U.S. Open and he has now achieved top-10 finishes in his last six appearances at the event.