All in all, it was a great weekend for Irish golf with 3 players in the top 30 at the US Open and an Irish victory on the LPGA Tour. It doesn't feel like that obviously after Rory McIlroy failed to get over the line in his battle with Wyndham Clark.
Shane Lowry shot a +1 71 to finish on one-over par for the tournament. This earned him a tie for 20th place. Padraig Harrington meanwhile shot 73, to finish at 3 over par and in a tie for 26th place. This will likely quell any talks of a Ryder Cup push from Harrington, for the moment at least.
Here's a look at McIlroy's final round and what the Irish players earned.
US Open - Rory McIlroy hole by hole analysis
Rory McIlroy started his final round on nine under. McIlroy hit a massive 379 yard drive and a 209 yard second shot to set up an eagle putt at his opening hole. McIlroy got off to a great start with a birdie on the first hole. The second at Los Angeles is a tough hole with barranca in front of the green and McIlroy achieved a par after a good long putt. The third hole at Los Angeles is a short hole and McIlroy only had 98 yards for his second shot but his birdie putt failed to drop into the hole. The Northern Irishman played the first four holes in one under which included one birdie and three pars.
McIlroy missed the fairway on the fifth hole and had a difficult lie for his 158 yard second shot which ended up 90 feet from the pin. His putt caught the edge of the hole and tapped in for par. The sixth hole is a reachable par four and McIlroy went for the green with his tee shot but ended up in the wrong spot and had to come over a bunker with his chip shot. McIlroy kept the momentum as he holed a four footer for par at the sixth hole. The last three holes on the front nine at Los Angeles are two par three’s and one par five. He hit a fantastic five wood at par three seventh but missed the birdie but McIlroy mentally dropped a shot at the par five eight after a three putt which resulted in a par.
McIlroy started the back nine with a par and hit a fantastic four iron at the 295 yard par three 11th. The 14th is a par five and this was the hole were it went wrong for him in my opinion. He had 125 yards for his third shot but failed to get it on the green then missed his putt for par. “Two or three shots over the course of the round that I'd like to have back”. The last three holes at Los Angeles are over 1,000 yards and McIlroy was given hope as Clark had a bogey at both the 15th and 16th hole.
McIlroy holed a short range putt for par on 16th to keep his chances alive with two holes to go.
The 18th was his final opportunity to force a play-off and his birdie putt just broke at the hole. McIlroy finished in second on nine under and received a check for $2.16 million. “I'm getting closer. The more I keep putting myself in these positions, sooner or later it's going to happen for me”. McIlroy confirmed that he will play Travelers Championship and Scottish Open in the build up to The Open. “I'll play Travelers next week, I'll play the Scottish Open, but I'm focused on making sure that I'm ready to go for Liverpool”.
US Open prize money for McIlroy, Lowry, Harrington and top 3
While it was heartbreak for McIlroy, he did earn $2.1m for his weekend's work. Lowry and Harrington each earned around $200,000.
1st (Winner): $3,600,000 -- Wyndham Clark
2nd: $2,160,000 -- Rory McIlroy
3rd: $1,413,430 -- Scottie Scheffler
T20th: $$200,152- Shane Lowry
T26th: $199,805 -- Padraig Harrington
