Rory McIlroy’s second successive Sunday charge in a major ended in disappointment as the US PGA Championship headed for a tense climax at Southern Hills.
McIlroy finished runner-up in the Masters thanks to a closing 64 at Augusta National, a round which culminated in wild celebrations from the four-time major winner after he holed a bunker shot on the 72nd hole.
In stark contrast, McIlroy’s closing 68 in Tulsa was followed by him declining to speak to waiting reporters before quickly collecting his belongings from the locker room and heading to his car.
The reaction was understandable given that McIlroy had enjoyed a one-shot lead following an opening 65 from what proved the favourable side of the draw.
A second round of 71 was far from disastrous, but Saturday’s 74 left him nine shots off the pace heading into the final round, a deficit he swiftly reduced thanks to four birdies in a row from the second.
The par threes have been McIlroy’s undoing however – the 33-year-old playing them in five over par in round three even with a birdie on the 14th – and the sixth cost him another shot on Sunday after missing the green and hitting a poor chip to 20 feet.
Good birdie chances went begging on the ninth, 12th and 13th and McIlroy’s faint hopes were ended with a bogey on the short par-four 17th.
McIlroy carded seven birdies and two bogeys in an opening 65 to record his lowest round in a major since the 2011 US Open but his fortunes have dipped since then.
His last major win came in the 2014 US PGA and he would have pocketed over €2million if he had ended his major drought in Oklahoma.
McIlroy still earned $436,600 for finishing eighth, one shot ahead of Waterford man Seamus Power, while Shane Lowry finished on two over in a tie for 23rd.
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