Rory McIlroy Fades With Sunday 74 in Front of Home Fans at Irish Open
STRAFFAN, Ireland — As hard as they tried, the massive contingent of fans following Rory McIlroy in Sunday’s final round of the Irish Open could not will him to victory.
They yelled his name as he walked to the tee, after he hit his tee shots and occasionally as he walked to his ball, you’d hear a shout for "RORY, come on RORY."
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There were groans of compassion, especially when he dunked his second-shot 9-iron on the par-4 7th hole. As the ball hit the rocks and caromed into the water, the collective reaction was evident.
It was similar when his wedge spun back off the green, onto the rocks on the par-4 11th and again into the drink.
Rory McIlroy faded Sunday at the K Club with multiple water balls.
Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
The ball that found the water on the 16th is forgivable, he was going for a green in two on the par-5 that few had attempted, but it wasn’t to be and when he followed it up with another rinsed ball from the drop zone, his chances—if there were any—floated away as he made a 20-footer for a triple-bogey 8.
“Disappointing, obviously,” McIlroy said after his final round 2-over 74. “In the middle of the 7th fairway, 13 under par for the tournament, like if someone had told me you just need to make two more birdies your way in and you'd win, I would obviously have taken that.”
It started out so promising Sunday morning. A birdie at the first combined with a bogey at the second by co-leader Hurly Long put McIlroy in a tie for the lead for the first time all week.
One hole later a thunderstorm arrived, dropping a considerable amount of rain and causing a suspension of over 1 hour and 30 minutes.
When play resumed, five players were tied for the lead at 12 under: Min Woo Lee, Grant Forrest, Ryan Fox, Hurly Long and McIlroy.
At the time of the resumption, McIlroy was even money to win for the 38th time worldwide. Instead, the 34-year-old had to look for other positives from a week that has always been difficult in front of a home crowd.
“There was some good stuff," McIlroy said. “My back felt really good as the week went on, which was a big positive."
In the end, like McIlroy, the other co-leaders struggled down the stretch and 25-year-old Vincent Norman from Sweden won by a shot at 14 under after a bogey free 7-under 65.
“It was just a few bad swings,” McIlroy said. "You know that you had iron into the 7th, the wedge shot into 11. I felt really comfortable with the position I was in the tournament and the situation and all that it was just a few missed swings more than anything else.”