Rory McIlroy suffered a heartbreaking loss at the U.S. Open this week when he missed a short putt on the 18th hole that allowed Bryson DeChambeau to overtake him on the leaderboard and claim the championship. As a result of the brutal finish, McIlroy left the grounds almost immediately after the tournament was over, declining to do any interviews. And ESPN analyst Scott Van Pelt absolutely blasted him for it.
Following the tournament, Scott Van Pelt was highly critical of Rory McIlroy for his decision not to speak to the media after the tournament.
“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.
“I think about this, Phil Mickelson, the [2006] U.S. Open, hit off a beer tent on the 72nd hole at Winged Foot to lose with a double and he said afterward, ‘I’m such an idiot.’ Greg Norman melted over the course of five brutal hours at the Masters in ’96, as his seemingly insurmountable lead evaporated,” Van Pelt said, referencing past meltdowns at major championships.
“When it mercifully ended, [Norman] stood there under the Magnolia trees in the darkness and he answered the questions about what happened. I’m certain he would have preferred that the Earth open up and swallow him whole, but he stood there and he took it. Rory today did not and you just have to.”
Clearly, SVP was not a fan of how McIlroy handled it.
[The Spun]
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