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As he so often does, Eddie Pepperell summed it up best, describing Rory McIlroy’s valiant fightback at Royal Portrush as “probably the most disappointing 65 you could ever shoot”.

Almost exclusively written off after carding a desperate 79 in the first round of The Open yesterday, Rory McIlroy came up just one shot shy in his bid to make the cut in front of a home crowd – and afterwards, he couldn’t hold back his emotions.

Fighting back tears, the 30-year-old said: “Part of me is disappointed and emotional not to be here for the weekend, but the other part of me is happy with how I played.

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“The support I got out there was incredible. Yesterday gave me a big mountain to climb but I dug in there, I tried my best, I showed really good resilience

“It’s going to hurt for a little but I guess the good thing about
golf is that I’ve got a tournament in Memphis next year to turn my focus
towards.”

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Along with that of his compatriots Darren Clarke and Graeme
McDowell, Rory’s major-winning success had been credited with helping to
bring The Open Championship back to Northern Ireland for the first time
in 68 years.

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Suffice to say, he was crushed not to have a better week.

“This
is a week I’d been looking forward to for a long time,” he said. “I
didn’t play my part but everyone in Northern Ireland who came out to
watch me played theirs.”


author headshot

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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