Rory McIlroy Falls Agonizingly Short Before Home Fans at Irish Open

The world No. 3, playing at home in Northern Ireland, was reeled in by Rasmus Højgaard and missed a putt that would have forced a playoff.

Rory McIlroy saw an eagle putt slide by at the 72nd hole which would have forced a playoff at the Irish Open. He finished second by a shot to Rasmus Hojgaard. / DP World Tour

In front of an entire country pulling for him, Rory McIlroy came up agonizingly short at the Irish Open.

McIlroy held a one-shot lead after three rounds at Royal County Down, in Newcastle in his native Northern Ireland, but Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard surged to the title with a back-nine 31 that included three consecutive birdies to close out his 65. 

McIlroy, who shot 69 to fall short by one shot, bogeyed the 15th and 17th holes, yet still had an eagle putt at the 72nd hole to force a playoff. He watched it just miss on the right.

Agony for Rory McIlroy.

Rasmus Højgaard wins the Amgen Irish Open 🏆#AmgenIrishOpen pic.twitter.com/eAZtCQmudV

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 15, 2024

The world No. 3, who won twice on the PGA Tour this season and won in January on the DP World Tour but fell short at the U.S. Open to Bryson DeChambeau after two missed short putts late on Sunday, was looking for a career highlight in Northern Ireland. His previous Irish Open win in 2016 was at the K Club in Ireland, and when the Irish Open was last at Royal County Down in 2015 he shot a first-round 80 and missed the cut.

The last time the British Open was in Northern Ireland, at Royal Portrush in 2019, McIlroy opened with a 79 and missed the cut.

Højgaard, at age 23, is now a five-time winner on the DP World Tour. His first win was in 2019 at age 18, when he became the third-youngest to win on the Tour. 

McIlroy played the Irish Open while members of the PGA Tour’s “transaction subcommittee,” of which he is also a member, met in New York City with representatives of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which funds LIV Golf. The meetings were reportedly over multiple days, and Wednesday was the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In a press conference prior to the Irish Open, McIlroy called the timing “peculiar” and said he didn’t know much about the talks.