Rory McIlroy kept his good form rolling to finish fifth at the U.S. Open, but with nearly eight years since his last major win, he said he views it as "another missed opportunity".
The Northern Irishman is on an impressive run lately, finishing second at The Masters, fifth at the Wells Fargo Championship, eighth at the PGA Championship, and winning the Canadian Open in four of his past five starts.
He was in contention right from the word go this week, one stroke off the lead after the first round and four-under par heading into the weekend, but he shot a disappointing 73 on Saturday to take himself out of the group of real contenders.
Speaking to the media after his final round, McIlroy said while there were positives to take from the week, it "doesn't really mean anything" for him to bank another top-five finish.
"Another top-five in a major – I guess doesn't really mean anything," he said. "Yeah, the game's there.
"I've got one more start next week in Hartford before I go to the Open Championship. I'll get two weeks of good rest before the Open and play some links golf and prepare and look forward to that.
"Again, my game's in good shape. I've got one more chance this year to try to get that major.
"I feel like this is my fourth top-ten in a row coming off the back of three missed cuts in this event – so it's definitely been better – [but] it's still not quite close enough.
"There was a few holes there today where I made the birdie and then did the reverse ones back with the bogey at the next. To win golf tournaments, you just can't do that.
"But it's there. It's close. I just have to stay patient. As I said, I've got one more opportunity this year to try to get a major, and I'm looking forward to that."
While he feels like this was "another missed opportunity", he said he knows he is playing well enough to win at the highest level.
"It will take a while [to reset and process the outcome] – I'll look back at this as another missed opportunity just as Southern Hills was," he said. "But missed opportunities are better than not contending at all – so that is a positive.
"I have to stay patient at this point because if I just keep putting myself in position, sooner or later it's going to be my day and I'm going to get one.
"It's not win or bust. It's not as if where I finished today is the same as not playing on the weekend. I guess when I look back, will I remember the fifth place I had at Brookline? Probably not.
"I played well enough to give myself a chance to win. I didn't get the job done, but I'm closer than I have been in a while, which is good."
What could Friday’s Ryder Cup action mean for the next two days in Rome?
The United States failed to win a single match as Europe equalled the biggest day-one lead in the modern format of the Ryder Cup.
Since the Great Britain and Ireland team was expanded to Europe in 1979, a margin of 6 1/2 points to 1 1/2 had only before been achieved in 2004 – and even then, the beaten Americans managed one foursomes win.
Here, the PA news agency looks at how Friday’s success compares and what it could mean.
Friday’s resultsEurope won all four of the morning foursomes, only their fourth ever session whitewash with the others coming on Friday afternoons in 1987, 1989 and 2018.
Another win followed in the afternoon from Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick, 5&3 over Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele, with none of the five home wins reaching the 18th hole.
When the other games did get there, though, it was to Europe’s benefit – Viktor Hovland’s dead-weight birdie putt halved the top match, Jon Rahm rattled in his second eagle in three holes and Justin Rose brilliantly closed out another half.
Echoes of 2004Europe’s previous 4-0 sessions came after a 2-2 share of the Friday morning in 1987 and overturned 3-1 deficits on the other two occasions.
That 6-2 margin in 1987 was matched in 1999, Europe winning 2 1/2 points in the Friday morning foursomes and 3 1/2 in the afternoon fourballs, and by the Americans with a pair of 3-1 wins in 2021.
But the only precedent for a team scoring 6 1/2 points on day one comes from 2004, when Europe won three of the morning fourballs with an additional half-point from Paul McGinley and current captain Luke Donald.
Chris DiMarco and Jay Haas finally got the USA on the board but Europe won the remaining three foursomes on their way to an eventual 18 1/2 9 1/2 win – a European record which was matched two years later.
The USA’s 19-9 win two years ago is the only bigger margin in a Europe-United States contest though after Europe’s 6-2 opening days, they won only 15-13 in 1987 and lost the contest in 1999.
Battle of BrooklineFrom the American perspective, what is needed is a comeback to top one of the Ryder Cup’s most memorable contests – largely for unwanted reasons.
The 1999 contest in Brookline is chiefly noted for the controversy on the final day, with Justin Leonard’s long putt at the 17th sparking wild American celebrations even as Europe’s Jose Maria Olazabal still had a putt for a half to keep the match alive.
Colin Montgomerie reported that he suffered such abuse that his father left the course, Mark James alleged that a fan spat at his wife and Europe vice-captain Sam Torrance singled out Tom Lehman’s conduct as “disgusting”, with Lehman later apologising for his and his team’s behaviour.
A dramatic contest, though, deserves to be remembered for the golf that was played. Wins for Montgomerie and Paul Lawrie followed by Sergio Garcia and Jesper Parnevik gave Europe the early initiative, with Jeff Maggert and Hal Sutton pulling back a first American win and the other match on Friday morning halved.
A half for Montgomerie and Lawrie and wins for Garcia and Parnevik, Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez and then Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood made it 6-2 and each of Saturday’s sessions were shared 2-2, leaving Europe 10-6 up heading into the singles.
American players won the first seven matches to finish before Padraig Harrington and Lawrie stopped the rot. Jim Furyk beat Garcia, though, to make it 14-12 and Olazabal’s miss after the commotion at the 17th meant an eventual 14 1/2 13 1/2 home win.
Ryder Cup day one: Record-equalling start is fantastic news for Europe
Europe captain Luke Donald insisted his side would not rest on their laurels after claiming a record-equalling five-point lead on the opening day of the 44th Ryder Cup.
After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a single match in a day for the first time.
“Unbelievable start, historic day, but we want it to be an historic week so the job is certainly not done,” Donald said.
“We will all celebrate an amazing day, but we’ll be back with the goal of trying to win tomorrow morning’s session. We’ll be getting our guys focused to be back in the saddle, so to speak.
“We’ll enjoy the last hour [of play] and the celebration, but once I’m back at the hotel we’ll have a team meeting and we’ll be back to business.”
Donald was well aware that the United States could easily have ended the day just 5-3 behind as they were ahead in three of the fourballs on the closing stretch, only for Jon Rahm to finish eagle, par, eagle and Viktor Hovland to hole from 20 feet for birdie on the 18th.
Justin Rose then also birdied the last to ensure the five-point advantage and match Europe’s lead at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on the opening day.
Shot of the dayHis partner Nicolai Hojgaard had driven the green on the short 16th, but Rahm decided to chip in anyway for an eagle to win the hole.
Statistic of the dayTop statistician Justin Ray sums up the historic nature of day one.
Quote of the dayBrooks Koepka was not happy with Jon Rahm after the Spaniard finished eagle, par, birdie to snatch half a point.
Key tee times (all BST)0635 Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood v Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth
0650 Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg v Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka
0705 Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka v Max Homa and Brian Harman
0720 Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton v Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele
Weather forecastSaturday and Sunday will feature sunny skies with a few afternoon clouds building up over the mountains along with temperatures near 30 degrees centigrade (85F) each afternoon. No rain is expected through the period.
Ryder Cup day one: Europe seek to build on fantastic first day
Europe captain Luke Donald insisted his side would not rest on their laurels after claiming a record-equalling five-point lead on the opening day of the 44th Ryder Cup.
After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a single match in a day for the first time.
“Unbelievable start, historic day, but we want it to be an historic week so the job is certainly not done,” Donald said.
“We will all celebrate an amazing day, but we’ll be back with the goal of trying to win tomorrow morning’s session. We’ll be getting our guys focused to be back in the saddle, so to speak.
“We’ll enjoy the last hour [of play] and the celebration, but once I’m back at the hotel we’ll have a team meeting and we’ll be back to business.”
Donald was well aware that the United States could easily have ended the day just 5-3 behind as they were ahead in three of the fourballs on the closing stretch, only for Jon Rahm to finish eagle, par, eagle and Viktor Hovland to hole from 20 feet for birdie on the 18th.
Justin Rose then also birdied the last to ensure the five-point advantage and match Europe’s lead at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on the opening day.
Shot of the dayHis partner Nicolai Hojgaard had driven the green on the short 16th, but Rahm decided to chip in anyway for an eagle to win the hole.
Statistic of the dayTop statistician Justin Ray sums up the historic nature of day one.
Quote of the dayBrooks Koepka was not happy with Jon Rahm after the Spaniard finished eagle, par, birdie to snatch half a point.
Key tee times (all BST)0635 Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood v Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth
0650 Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg v Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka
0705 Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka v Max Homa and Brian Harman
0720 Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton v Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele
Weather forecastSaturday and Sunday will feature sunny skies with a few afternoon clouds building up over the mountains along with temperatures near 30 degrees centigrade (85F) each afternoon. No rain is expected through the period.
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