RORY McILROY’S Major misery continued as he was left cursing a couple of missed tiddlers that derailed his US Open championship, when he had Bryson DeChambeau on the ropes.
McIlroy had overturned the three shot lead DeChambeau took into the final round with a string of brilliant birdies, and was a shot ahead with three holes to play - when disaster struck.
The Northern Irishman - who earlier in the week called off his divorce from wife Erica Stoll - left himself a two and a half footer for par at the 16th, and watched in horror as his ball caught the side of the hole and lipped out.
And it was a similar story at the last, when McIlroy missed a par putt from inside four feet to throw his rival an unexpected lifeline.
It meant DeChambeau only had to par the last two holes to win a tournament he must have thought had slipped out of his grasp - and the big-hitting American was up to the task as McIlroy’s ten year wait for a fifth Major continued.
After playing the first 14 holes in four under par, McIlroy bogeyed three of the last four - a collapse he will find hard to stomach.
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No-one could have predicted that drama, as McIlroy made the perfect start, as he pouring in a twenty footer for birdie at the first to trim a shot off the three shot lead DeChambeau took into the final round.
That sent a message to the big-hitting American, who must have heard the roars back on the tee as McIlroy’s putt disappeared into the hole.
And the lead was down to just one when DeChambeau became the first to blink - making a mess of the treacherous fourth hole.
His bogey dropped him to six under, and McIlroy had the chance to join him on that number as he was first to play the par five fifth, the easiest hole on the course.
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A 340-yard drive down the middle of the fairway was the ideal start. But he suffered a cruel slice of luck when his second shot from 236 yards out found the green - only to roll back off the false front into an awful spot in the sandy waste.
His chip shot landed in a greenside bunker and he walked away shaking his head as a bogey six dropped him back to two behind.
McIlroy has not always reacted well to setbacks like that. But this time the response was good.
He conjured up terrific par saves at seven and eight, and then nailed a 15 footer to birdie the short ninth. That meant he started the back nine just one shot adrift, with that elusive fifth Major so close he could smell it.
DeChambeau had made three more birdies than anyone else in the field over the first 54 holes had not had a sniff of one on the front nine.
He had to change the head on his driver shortly before teeing off, and it showed as he found it difficult to keep the ball on the planet.
As the only other par five at Pinehurst, the tenth offered McIlroy the chance to heap even more pressure on DeChambeau.
But after finding every fairway on the front nine he carved his tee shot into the sandy waste, and his third shot left him more than 26 feet away from the flag - and he delivered a massive fist pump as he buried the birdie putt!
DeChambeau coaxed home a five footer to finally open his birdie account on the same hole to regain the lead.
It had the feel of a Ryder Cup-style match play shoot out, and the 12th hole proved pivotal.
McIlroy drained another birdie putt from outside twenty feet to draw level again, while DeChambeua’s wild drive led to a bogey five - a two shot swing that gave the Northern Irishman the solo lead for the first time.
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It was the first time he had been out in front at a Major since the 15th Open at St Andrews two years ago. He messed that one up with an overly-cautious final round
But this seemed to be a very different Rory, more focused and brimming with confidence - an impression that proved sadly misleading after that dramatic finish.
