Rory McIlroy caught a brutal stray from an American politician on live TV ahead of next month's US election. Reince Priebus, a former White House Chief of Staff under Donald Trump, made an unprovoked reference to McIlroy's choke at the US Open.
Priebus was discussing Kamala Harris, who will go up against Trump in the polls, during an appearance on ABC. He used McIlroy to illustrate his claim that Harris had struggled while talking about her political ambitions on another ABC programme.
"She wanted to clarify the two most important issues that are facing these two candidates, the economy and immigration," said Priebus. "And she bombed like Rory at the US Open."
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He was, of course, referring to McIlroy throwing away a golden chance to secure glory at Pinehurst earlier this year. The 35-year-old was two strokes up with five holes to play but went on to make three bogies, allowing Bryson DeChambeau to leapfrog him at the death.
McIlroy twice missed par putts within four feet, derailing his hopes of victory after overhauling a three-shot overnight deficit. He was understandably gutted as he watched DeChambeau hole the decisive putt before storming off without congratulating his rival.
Reflecting on his unfortunate final round, McIlroy admitted it was tough to take but said he was starting to see the positives after getting over the initial disappointment.
"I did things on that Sunday that I haven't been able to do in the last couple years," he said in July. "I took control of the golf tournament, held putts when I needed to. Well, mostly when I needed to. Made birdies, you know, really got myself in there.
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"And then, look, obviously unfortunately to miss those last two putts, or the putt on 16 and obviously the putt on 18. Yeah, it was a tough day and it was a tough few days after that, obviously.
"But I think as you get further away from it happening, you start to see the positives and you start to see all the good things that you did throughout the week. There's learnings in there, too, right?
"I can vividly remember starting to feel a little uncomfortable waiting for my second putt on 16, and you know, the putt on the last, it was a really tricky putt, and I was very aware of where Bryson was off the tee. I knew I had to hit it really soft.
"If the one back didn't matter, I would have hit it firmer, but I was sort of in two minds. I didn't know whether Bryson was going to make a par or not."
