Rory McIlroy was blasted by NBC pundit Brandel Chamblee after wasting a golden opportunity to end his major drought at the US Open. McIlroy was two strokes up with five holes to play but went on to make three bogies, allowing Bryson DeChambeau to leapfrog him to the title.
The 35-year-old missed par putts within four feet on two occasions, derailing his hopes of victory after overhauling a three-shot overnight deficit. It was the fourth time McIlroy had finished second at a major since winning his fourth at the PGA Championship a decade ago.
Chamblee did not mince his words as he gave a brutal assessment of McIlroy's performance, saying on NBC: "I can’t remember a higher quality player coming up smaller in a big moment down the stretch than that."
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McIlroy was visibly distraught after throwing away his two-stroke lead and stormed out of Pinehurst without congratulating DeChambeau on his victory. It is exactly 3,600 days since he won his last major and it remains to be seen how he will come back from his latest crushing defeat.
He looked to be on the brink of tears in the clubhouse as he watched DeChambeau hit a stunning bunker shot before holding his nerve to seal par on the final hole. McIlroy refused to speak to the media at the end of the day and reportedly flew straight home to Florida.
Sky Sports pundit Nick Faldo suggested that McIlroy will struggle to get over the pain of being the architect of his own downfall, saying: "That’s going to haunt Rory for the rest of his life, those two misses."
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DeChambeau, meanwhile, had some kind words for McIlroy after finishing on six under par to win the US Open. Speaking in his press conference, the American said: "Rory is one of the best to ever play and being able to fight against a great like that is pretty special.
"For him to miss that putt, I never would have wished it on anybody. It just happened to play out that way. He will win multiple more major championships, there is no doubt. I think that fire in him is going to continue to grow and I have nothing but respect for how he plays the game of golf.
"To be honest, when he was climbing up the leaderboard and he was two ahead I was like: ‘Uh oh, uh oh’. But luckily things went my way."
