Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. HOME News Politics Royal Showbiz & TV Sport Comment Finance Travel Life & Style Football Tennis F1 Boxing UFC Cricket Rugby Golf Racing NFL NBA Other Rory McIlroy’s devastating collapse in the final round of the US Open was explained by a sports psychologist. 15: 53, Sat, Jun 22, 2024 | UPDATED: 15: 55, Sat, Jun 22, 2024
Rory McIlroy’s 10-year drought for a major continues after his collapse at the US Open (Image: Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy’s mental state before his missed putts may have led to his downfall at the US Open, according to sports psychologist and golf performance coach Jon Adler.
Speaking on The Sports Agents podcast, Adler analysed the Northern Irishman’s collapse which allowed Bryson DeChambeau to clinch his second US Open title, reports the Mirror.
McIlroy, 35, was tantalisingly close to his first major win in a decade at Pinehurst last week, leading the American by two strokes with just five holes remaining. However, the four-time major champion’s crucial misses on short putts on the 16th and 18th greens shifted the momentum to DeChambeau in an electrifying final round of the tournament.
After the heartbreaking second-place finish, McIlroy decided against participating in this week’s Travelers Championship, despite a potential winners’ payday of £3.1million. Adler shed light on what might have caused McIlroy’s US Open meltdown.
“Rory would have thought ‘I can’t miss this, you better not miss this’, that little voice in your head, that’s not the problem, when you think you shouldn’t be having those thoughts, now I’m anxious because I’m anxious, I’ve got double the anxiety,” he explained.
“It’s about accepting that I’m going to be anxious, accepting the thoughts when they come in but you deciding actually I’m not going to react to my worrying mind, I’m going to do something I’ve practiced over and over [again].”
The Northern Irishman cut a frustrated figure after his putting mishaps in the final round of the US (Image: Getty)
McIlroy’s putting woes on the Pinehurst greens elicited sympathy from fellow golfer Jon Rahm, who didn’t mince his words about the challenging conditions. “I think it was Smylie [Kaufman] who said it, he severely underplayed how difficult Rory’s putt on 18 was,” declared the 2023 Masters champion.
“When he said it’s a left-center putt, if you hit that putt left-center and miss the hole, you’re off the green because of how much slope there is. You could see Rory aiming for at least a cup left from three feet. They severely underplayed how difficult that putt was.”
“I think that can happen a few times where unless you’ve been there on the golf course and you’re playing it or you’ve played it, it’s hard to truly explain how difficult the golf course can be.”
The 35-year-old is missing only a Masters title in his collection of majors where his best finish at Augusta was a runner-up spot in 2022 where Scottie Scheffler secured his first green jacket.
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