Rory McIlroy suffered an extremely disappointing finish at the U.S. Open on Sunday as he missed two short putts that ultimately allowed Bryson DeChambeau to overtake him and claim the championship. And it sounds like McIlroy has decided to take some time away from the game to reflect on what happened on Sunday and work on bouncing back.
On Monday afternoon, Rory McIlroy announced that he would be stepping away from the game for a short time following the disappointing finish at the U.S. Open, but he vowed to return for the Scottish Open.
“Yesterday was a tough day, probably the toughest I’ve had in my nearly 17 years as a professional golfer,” McIlroy said in his statement on X, the social media website that was formerly known as Twitter.
“Firstly, I’d like to congratulate Bryson. He is a worthy champion and exactly what professional golf needs right now. I think we can all agree on that.”
— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) June 17, 2024
“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. 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 continued.
“I’m going to take a few weeks away from the game to process everything and build myself back up for my defense of the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon. See you in Scotland.”
The announcement led to a lot of reactions from the golf community.
PLEASE RESPECT MY DECISION*
*to not go to Connecticut, Detroit, or the Quad Cities https://t.co/HP7SXIkceX
— ANTIFAldo (@ANTIFAldo) June 17, 2024
After that Sunday did anyone actually think he’d turn up tmrw or Wednesday in Hartford to play 4th week in a row and 6/7?
He tried to be everything for everyone for years, nothing wrong with putting yourself first when you need to. https://t.co/OOezFI4FVI
— Jon McCarthy (@jonmccarthySUN) June 17, 2024
This will have been so tough to compose and I can’t even begin to imagine how much sleep he’s lost and will continue to lose thinking about that last hour last night. But as he acknowledges himself, if there’s one word you can use for Rory McIlroy’s career it’s resilience. https://t.co/ehB3m9SAA4
— Jamie Weir (@jamiecweir) June 17, 2024
When Rory skipped the 2023 RBC Heritage (a signature event) after missing the cut at the Masters, he was fined $3M from his previous $12M in PIP earnings
No such fines are in place for skipping signature events this year, but fans at the Travelers Championship will miss out. https://t.co/Hx16YGCKy3
— David Rumsey (@_DavidRumsey) June 17, 2024
Well said, Rory. Now go win The Open. 👏👏👏 https://t.co/3ERbQGCmUL
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 17, 2024
👏👏 just to remind people Rory is a 4 time Major champion. https://t.co/7WWXQf24X8
— RGill (@robggill) June 17, 2024
We’ll have to see how McIlroy bounces back from this.
