They were scenes from a film we have seen before – and recently.
There was the putt on the 72nd hole sliding past. There was the crowd stunned into silence. There was the consoling pat on the back from Harry Diamond. And there was, at the centre of it all, a dejected protagonist.
Yes, for Rory McIlroy, an immensely enjoyable week back home at the Irish Open ended with a familiar sinking feeling as the home favourite’s bid to seal a memorable Irish Open win at Royal County Down was crushed by the brilliance of Rasmus Hojgaard.
McIlroy was battling to banish two different demons on the Newcastle links he knows so well: the lingering pain of his US Open near-miss and the memories of his previous appearances competing on Northern Irish soil.
When Royal County Down staged the 2015 Irish Open, he had the ignominy of watching the weekend’s play on TV after missing the cut. It was the same story four years later at the Open when his tournament at Royal Portrush met an early end.
This is a different kind of pain in front of his home fans, though. Having contended all week, McIlroy made costly errors on two of his last four holes – evoking memories of US Open collapse in June – to open the door for Hojgaard.
After losing the US Open to Bryson DeChambeau, McIlroy skipped media duties. Here, however, he fronted up and attempted to take the positives from a near-perfect week back home.
“I’m getting used to it unfortunately this year,” McIlroy said of his near-misses this year, which have also included faltering late in the final round of the Olympics event.
“Hopefully the tide is going to turn pretty soon, and I can turn all these close calls into victories.”
McIlroy at one point led by four in Sunday’s final round but with Hojgaard breathing down his neck he made a costly error at 15 by pushing his approach to the right of the green at the difficult par-four.
That was compounded by another mistake at 17 when he raced his first putt past the hole and failed to convert his second.
“Missing the green right on 15 is the place you can’t go and then I just misjudged the speed with the first putt on 17,” he admitted.
“Overall, obviously really disappointed that I didn’t win but I’ll try to take the positives and move on to next week to Wentworth [at the BMW PGA Championship].”
The four-time major winner was the main attraction in Newcastle all week – and overwhelmingly so.
The crowds that followed him on Sunday were not a million miles off what he would expect to see at a major and he almost produced the most thrilling finale when two crushing blows at the par-five 18th gave him an eagle putt and a shot at forcing a play-off.
Indeed, the noise when McIlroy’s approach landed on the green and rolled to 10 feet was deafening – and that was not lost on the world number three.
“I must say, that roar when I hit that second shot on 18 was pretty cool,” he said.
“The support I got out there this week was absolutely amazing. I certainly don’t take it for granted.
“I had to try to keep my composure walking up to the 18th green there. Wish I could play in front of those fans and this atmosphere every week.
“From where I was at the start of the week and what I wanted to do, it’s a step in the right direction. You know, if anything, it just whets my appetite even more for Portrush [the Open Championship] next year.”
