[The Open] McIlroy: "It's not a matter of life and death"... "I can just win next time"

Rory McIlroy is looking at the ball after putting on the 15th hole of the final day of the 150th Open. St Andrews (Scotland) = Getty Images / Multibits Photo by Getty Images

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-jun] "A 7-stroke difference on the greens alone."

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) missed the chance to win a major title for the first time in 8 years. On the final day of the 150th Open Championship (total prize money $14 million), held at the Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland (par 72, 7,313 yards) in the early morning of the 18th (Korean time), he faltered with a 2-under-par round and finished in 3rd place (18-under-par 270 strokes). Particularly, 36 putts held him back. Compared to Cameron Smith (Australia), who shot 8-under-par with 29 putts, there was a difference of as many as 7 strokes.

McIlroy started tied for the lead and made exactly two birdies at the 5th hole (par 5) and the 10th hole (par 4). The US Golf Channel reported, "In the past 30 years, cases where a player was leading through the third round of a major and had no bogeys in the fourth round but still did not win are rare; McIlroy is the second since Jason Day (Australia) at the 2015 Open." Day also finished tied for 4th with a 2-under-par round on the final day at the Old Course at St Andrews in 2015.

It was especially disappointing for McIlroy as he has not won a major since the 2014 Open and the PGA Championship. This year, he stopped at the 'top 10' in all four majors, including 2nd place at the Masters in April, 8th at the PGA Championship in May, and tied 5th at the US Open in June. "It's regrettable that I couldn't seize the opportunity," he said, adding, "My long game was good, but my putting was shaky throughout the round." He accepted it boldly, saying, "The tournament is over, and it's not a matter of life and death," and "I believe I can win this tournament and other majors in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.