Rory McIlroy suffered more disappointment on home soil as he lost the Irish Open title to Rasmus Hojgaard.
As the 54-hole leader at Royal County Down, McIlroy had the good fortune of making up for the pain of missing the cut at the Irish Open held here in 2015.
2
2
But he suffered the same fate at the 2019 Open on Portrush beaches.
Everything was going according to plan as McIlroy held a two-shot lead with four holes remaining.
Despite USA’s win over Team Europe: Esther Henselit impresses at Solheim CupThe world number three revived painful memories of his US Open defeat to Bryson DeChambeau four months ago, when two bad bogeys ended his hopes.
McIlroy birdied the other two – but Hojgaard made a hat-trick of birdies to leave the Northern Irishman one stroke behind.
His vast army of fans were stunned and shaking their heads in disbelief, McIlroy shared the same sentiments.
The home hero had a chance to make it to the playoffs.
Two brilliant shots on the closing hole, the par fifth, gave him a ten-footer for eagle, matching Højgaard’s nine-under-par total.
In previous years, you would have put good money on McIlroy to make the putt and get the job done in overtime.
But failing to win any of the four majors he won before turning 25 has eroded McIlroy’s confidence.
So it was no surprise when his ball went in the hole but refused to fall, and he had another near miss with a score of two-under-par 69.
This win is huge for Dane Hojgaard, as he now joins his twin brother Nikolai on the PGA Tour after ensuring his position with today’s win.
Jon Rahm won the LIV title and won a total of $22 million
