Rory McIlroy insists his U.S. Open capitulation is behind him as he aims to respond at The Open Championship, backed by support from two sporting stars.
The Northern Irishman collapsed in remarkable fashion at Pinehurst, missing two simple putts as Bryson DeChambeau sneaked in to profit and win the major.
Spanish tennis great Rafael Nadal and NBA legend Michael Jordan both reached out to McIlroy in the aftermath of that disappointment.
The 35-year-old has now racked up four runners-up finishes in majors since his last such victory at the PGA Championship in 2014.
Yet McIlroy is intent on responding when The Open returns at Royal Troon this week.
"Rafa Nadal and Michael Jordan," McIlroy told The Guardian. "Two of the most unbelievable competitors that have ever been in sport.
"MJ was maybe the first person to text me after I missed the putt on the 18th but both of them got in touch very, very quickly. They just told me to keep going. MJ reminded me of how many game-winning shots he missed. Really nice."
The four-time major champion scored bogeys on three of his final four holes during his U.S. Open downfall.
"Was it a great opportunity to win a major? Absolutely," McIlroy added of his short-putting nightmare. "It hurt and in the moment it was tough, terrible.
"I'd say people would be surprised to see how quickly I got over it and moved on."
McIlroy subsequently took a short break before returning at the Scottish Open last week, finishing tied for fourth place at the Renaissance Club.
"Maybe the one drawback from me not talking [to media] afterwards was that you got three weeks of speculation," McIlroy said, referring to his swift exit at Pinehurst.
"He should have done this, should have done that but we will never know because he didn't say. I trust the people around me. I don't need to go looking for external counsel.
"If the tournament ended after 68 holes, people would be calling me the best golfer in the world. You have to be an eternal optimist. Say you play 25 events a year and win three of those. You are one of the best players in history. We lose way more than we win.
"Yes, I was in a great winning position and should have won but it's not the first time I have let something slip away. It's probably not going to be the last.
"You have to look at it on the continuum. It was tough but it is one tournament, I play 23-25 per year. You have to keep going.
"The great thing about this game is you have an opportunity to get back on the horse right after a tough loss. You try to learn from it and do better next time."
The Open: Fleetwood tries not to dwell on near misses
Tommy Fleetwood tries not to think about his near misses at the majors, as he bids to put that frustration behind him by winning The Open.
Fleetwood has never won a major, but has finished in the top five in each of the four events.
Indeed, he was second at The Open in 2019, a year after he finished second at the U.S. Open.
Earlier this year, the 33-year-old placed T3 at The Masters, and ahead of taking to the course at Royal Troon on Thursday, Fleetwood said he attempts to ensure the past does not play on his mind.
"I try not to dwell on it too much," he said.
"I get frustrated like anybody else. I get down on myself like anybody else.
"I don't win anywhere near as much as I would like, and I'm probably not in a position in the game where I want to be, even though I'm doing perfectly well.
"It's not where I believe I can be, and the results don't always show that."
Fleetwood is one of four golfers to have finished inside the top 10 at each of the last two editions of The Open, along with Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young and last year's champion Brian Harman.
However, he is yet to win on the PGA Tour, though he does have seven European Tour titles to his name.
He added; "I try to focus on the positives and what I need to do to actually get to where I want to be or contend in tournaments and win tournaments.
"I try to focus on that every day, but yeah, to be sure, the game's annoying.
"Even when you play well, you come off frustrated because you might have missed a putt or you might have finished a shot or two behind where you thought you could."
Mavs confident Irving will be fit for start of NBA season after hand surgery
Kyrie Irving has undergone surgery on a broken hand, but is expected to be fit for the start of next season.
Irving was part of the Dallas Mavericks team that reached the NBA Finals, only to go down to the dominant Boston Celtics.
The 32-year-old sustained his injury while training earlier in July, and has now gone through surgery to fix the issue.
Posting on X, Irving wrote: "Tribe, Thank you for all the messages and prayers. God truly knew that I needed to take a break from basketball after the long season and give myself some time to heal.
"I am in love with getting better at my craft, but now I must rest and recover."
While the Mavs did not confirm a timetable for Irving's return, it has been reported he is anticipated to return to action in around two and a half months.
The 2024-25 season is set to begin in October.
Irving averaged 25.6 points per game in the regular season across 2023-24.
The Mavs have brought in Klay Thompson as a free agent this off-season.
Zverev breezes past De Jong into Hamburg Open second round
Alexander Zverev cruised into the second round of the Hamburg Open with a comfortable straight-sets victory over Jesper de Jong.
The top seed took one step closer to defending his title with a 6-2 6-2 victory on Wednesday.
De Jong took the opening game, but Zverev dominated after that, winning the next five in a row, before holding off the Dutchman's late fightback to take the first set.
The second was a carbon copy of the first, as De Jong was broken twice and given no way back in as Zverev closed out the match to set up a meeting with Hugo Gaston in the next round.
Data Debrief: Defending champion starts strong
After clinching the title on home soil last year, Zverev was always going to come out fighting in his defence.
He hit 29 winners and twice went on five-game winning runs to take the match away from De Jong before he could get any real foothold.
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