“I will make the most of my disappointment at the US Open.” Rory McIlrory is clear about it. The Northern Irishman is not the typical player who wallows in pain or licks his wounds. The defending champion of the Genesis Scottish Open arrives at The Renaissance Club with very clear ideas. It was a great disappointment to lose in that way at Pinehurst No.2, that’s obvious, but he has no intention of letting that change his roadmap.
These have been his first statements after the collapse against DeChambeau and the message he wanted to convey was very clear: “As I distance myself from everything that happened, I begin to see the positive and become aware of all the good things I did throughout the week.”
If there’s one thing the man from Holywood is clear about, it’s that, except for three fateful holes, he played wonderfully: “On the last day I did things that I had not been able to do in the last two years”, says the champion of four Majors, “That day I had the tournament under control for almost the whole day, I putted well when I needed to. I made birdies and was able to get into the fight.”
It’s worth not forgetting that that Sunday he made up a three-stroke deficit with DeChambeau and even took a two-stroke lead. It’s true that the collapse came then and with the trophy within his grasp, the Northern Irishman missed two short putts on holes 16 and 18 to finish second in the US Open.
Rory wouldn’t change many things if he found himself in that situation again, but he does admit one mistake. McIlroy admits to having been too aware of DeChambeau: “Given the way the course is and the way things went, I was very aware of everything he was doing. I think that took me a little out of my own little world.”
In short, if there’s one player who knows how to bounce back from setbacks, it’s Rory McIlroy. He’s done it throughout his career and has no intention of this time being any different: “When I remember that day, just as I remember some of the toughest moments of my career, I will know how to look and learn a lot from it. I hope it serves me well. It’s something that has accompanied me throughout my career. I’ve been able to take advantage of those difficult moments and turn them into great things.”
This week in Scotland he will seek to turn all that around. He faces a huge challenge. No one has been able to defend the title at the Scottish Open in the previous 45 editions. Will he be able to turn around what happened or is it still too soon? That is the big question this week.
