Rory McIlroy’s wait for an elusive fifth major goes on after finishing in a tie for 12th at the US PGA Championship at Valhalla with American Xander Schauffele winning his first major title.
The Holywood native was one of the pre-tournament favourites after winning this previous two starts at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Shane Lowry and the Wells Fargo Championship.
McIlroy overhauled Schauffele last Sunday for his 26th PGA Tour title, but he was left to rue a costly six-hole stretch on Saturday which left him with too much ground to make up after shooting 66 on the opening day.
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Starting his final round seven shots off the lead, which was sharded by Schauffele and Colin Morikawa at 15 under-par, McIlroy finished with a four under-par round of 68 which included seven birdies, but he also found the water twice on 13 and 15.
McIlroy, who filed for divorce from his wife Erica ahead of the tournament, insisted he would take positives from the year’s second major.
“I Obviously started the week well and then I’ve obviously played decent over the weekend,” McIlroy told Sky Sports.
“That six-hole stretch on the back nine yesterday, not being able to hole any putts, I’ll probably rue that.
“Then the 71 on Friday, as well, was obviously not what I was looking for. Obviously put myself too far back. Overall, (I am) playing solid, game is in good shape, and I’ve got a week off and then another busy stretch coming up.”
McIlroy falls to third in the world rankings with Schauffele moving ahead of him with Scottie Scheffler rallying to shoot a 65 on Sunday to finish in a tie for eighth on an eventual week that saw the world number one arrested and released ahead of his second round on Friday.
McIlroy pocketed $359,943 for his week’s work while Shane Lowry, who moved into contention for his second major with a stunning 61 on Saturday, finished tied sixth with Justin Rose and won $639,440.
US PGA champion Schauffele took him a cool $3,330,000 to go with his first major title.
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