(Reuters) โ It took Rory McIlroy a couple of days to process the heartbreak he suffered at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, but the Northern Irishman said on Tuesday that he could not wait to return as he resumes his bid to end a decade-long major drought at The Open.
After his agonising U.S. Open loss last month, McIlroy had said he would take a few weeks away from the game to โprocess everythingโ.
The 35-year-old was in position to end his hunt for a fifth major but threw it away with three bogeys in his final four holes, including two where he missed putts inside four feet, and lost to American Bryson DeChambeau by one stroke.
โI would say maybe like three or four days after (that it took to get over the pain of losing),โ McIlroy told reporters.
โWent from being very disappointed and dejected to trying to focus on the positives to then wanting to learn from the negatives and then getting to the point where you become enthusiastic and motivated to go again.
โSo it probably took three, four, five days. Itโs funny how your mindset can go from I donโt want to see a golf course for a month to like four days later being canโt wait to get another shot at it.
โWhen that disappointment turns to motivation, thatโs when itโs time to go again.โ
Having won The Open in 2014, McIlroy said the talks around his next major win do not bother him.
The world number two owns 40 worldwide professional victories, 26 of which have come on the PGA Tour.
โI know that Iโm in a good spot,โ he added. โIf I think about 2015 through 2020, that five-year stretch, I seldom had a realistic chance to win a major championship.
โSo Iโd much rather have these close calls. It means that Iโm getting closer.
โBut yeah, absolutely, Iโd love to be able to play the golf and get one over the line, but as soon as I do that, people are going to say, well, when are you going to win your sixth? So itโs never ending.โ
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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