sport news IAN LADYMAN: Rory McIlroy is left with more Major frustration at The Open... he ... trends now
On the 15th green, as the rain continued to shroud these Hoylake links in some kind of medieval mist, Rory McIlroy rolled a 10-foot birdie putt towards the centre of the hole.
At the last moment, it turned to the right and slid by. It was a familiar sight for the Northern Irishman during another week of major frustration and with that, yet another challenge was done.
For a while here on a day of unrelenting meteorological misery, McIlroy had threatened to run through this field and present the final day of a fascinating but ultimately anti-climactic Open Championship with the adrenaline shot it badly needed.
With Brian Harman playing so metronomically at the top of the leaderboard, only real pressure from the pack was likely to disrupt his rhythm. McIlroy, out a couple of minutes after 1pm, looked at one stage as though he may be about to provide it.
After saving himself early disappointment by getting up and down following a drive that had scattered spectators down the left of the second fairway, McIlroy’s response was to birdie the next three holes.
Rory McIlroy finished seven strokes behind leader Brian Harman in the Open
He briefly threatened to come through the field on the final day but fell away at the end of a frustrating week
When he rolled one in from shortish range at the par-five fifth hole, it was possible to feel the heart of this tournament begin to beat a little faster.
It was wet. It was really wet. But it was also flat and calm and Hoylake’s greens were increasingly receptive. Was this course by the Dee Estuary about to yield in a fashion similar to the way it had in the face of Jon Rahm’s onslaught in the third round?
For a brief period, it seemed possible. With Harman starting uncertainly behind him, McIlroy had moved, almost in an instant, to six under par.
Another stretch further into the red and we would have at least a hint of something quite special on the horizon. But, as has increasingly come to be the case for McIlroy in majors, the 34-year-old could not quite get there and, on reflection, the wind disappeared marginally from his sails in the time it took him to play the ninth and 10th holes.
His tee shot on the par-three ninth was his best iron shot of the day; a tracer that dropped eight feet from
