Rory McIlroy's US Open hopes unravel on back nine at Shinnecock Hills, finishes 6 over

Weekend unraveling

Rory McIlroy entered the weekend at Shinnecock Hills with a chance to contend for his second US Open title, but a pair of 73s left him at 6 over par and tied for 32nd place. The 37-year-old Northern Irishman had reached 2 under through nine holes on Saturday before his round fell apart.

“The wheels came off. I sort of shot myself out of the tournament then.”

On Sunday, McIlroy tried an aggressive approach, hitting driver off the first tee, but bogeys on the second and third holes quickly ended any faint hopes of a charge. He muttered to himself after another bogey,

“ah, just go home Rory!”

Shinnecock's challenge

The course, which McIlroy described as not too dissimilar to an Open Championship layout, proved difficult to master. He felt he drove the ball better than in previous weeks but struggled with judging the first bounce on the greens and handling downwind feel shots.

“It won the battle over me at this point.”

McIlroy rued the back nine on both Friday and Saturday, where he played those stretches in a combined 6 over par. The world number two acknowledged that the mistakes were self-inflicted, calling them "silly errors."

Looking ahead to links golf

McIlroy will skip the Travelers Championship, the final PGA Tour Signature event of the year, to focus on links golf ahead of the Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Birkdale in July. He has a home outside London and plans to spend time playing links courses in the coming weeks.

“It's my favourite time of the year to go back home and play the Open and get to spend a bit of time back there.”

He won the Open in 2014 and has come close to a second title several times since. The experience at Shinnecock, he said, will serve as some preparation for the links test at Birkdale.

Other notable performances

Tom Kim shot 70 on Sunday to finish at 1 under and in third place, matching the best US Open result by a South Korean player (Y.E. Yang tied for third in 2011). Kim, a qualifier, secured spots in next year's US Open and the Masters with his top-four finish.

“For the first time, I was able to really taste a major championship right in front of my fingertips.”

Amateur Jackson Koivun birdied his final hole for a 68, becoming the first amateur to break 70 in the final round of a US Open at Shinnecock Hills. He tied Oklahoma's Ryder Cowan for low amateur honors, the first shared award since 2018.