McIlroy calls Memorial failure "a step in the right direction" and predicts "bright future" for McKibbin

Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy closed with a disappointing 75 to finish tied seventh in the Memorial Tournament but insisted it was a "step in the right direction" as the US Open approaches.

Bidding to make it a double celebration for Holywood Golf Club following Tom McKibbin's win in the Porsche European Open in Hamburg earlier in the day, the world number three finished four shots outside a playoff that saw Viktor Hovland deny Denny McCarthy his first PGA Tour win with a brilliant par at the first playoff hole.

McIlroy has yet to win a tournament where the winning score was in the single digits under par, and while he could blame two bogey sixes on the front nine and a below-average putting performance, he feels better about his game than he did after also finishing tied seventh in the PGA Championship two weeks ago.

"I did what I wanted to do," McIlroy said. "I thought if I could stay patient and put my ball in play off the tee, which I did pretty much all day, I only hit it in the long rough once.

"I was in the first cut three times, and then the rest of the time, I was in the fairway. So I did what I wanted to do. I just missed a few shots, and those two bogeys on the par-5s on the front nine were unforced errors.

"I was one-over through nine (and three behind McCarthy), and Denny was at 8-under for the tournament; it was just -- it's hard to chase on that golf course the way it's playing.

"I hit a couple of loose shots on the back nine that at least I know where they're coming from, which is good, but it's probably -- it's a step in the right direction."

McIlroy was tied for the 54-hole lead with Si Woo Kim and David Lipsky but ended up 62nd of 65 players for strokes gained putting in the final round, losing more than two strokes to the field on the greens.

While he chipped in from the rough to birdie the fourth to take the solo lead on seven-under, he would see further birdies at the sixth, 11th and 15th cancelled out by seven bogeys, with six of them coming in a nightmare nine-hole stretch from the par-five fifth.

But he was still looking at the positives and feeling better about his game as he prepares to defend the RBC Canadian Open this week.

"I do, yeah," he said. "It's funny, I have no idea where I finished, and this isn't a major championship. But I feel a lot more positive about things today than I was two weeks ago at Oak Hill.

"Even though the results might reflect that I had a better week at Oak Hill, for example. But I feel a lot more positive about everything going forward.

"It's nice. I've got next week, get straight back on the horse again in Canada and try to take the learnings from this week and try to do a little bit better next week."

As for those bogey sixes at the fifth and seventh, he said: “Well, I was in the fairway both times with the third shots. Both were like sort of partial wedges. One I landed a little too far, the other I landed a bit too short. Obviously, with how firm it was, you have to be pretty precise out there. Those were the two errors on the par-5s on the front nine.

“Misjudged the wind a little bit on the par-3s on 8 and on 12. It was helping a lot more than I thought it was and I hit both of those shots over the back of the green and it was really tough to get it up and down from both of those spots.:

As for McKibbin's win in Hamburg, he could not have been happier for his protege.

"I watched every shot this morning," he said. "I was really happy for him. For 20 years old, he showed so much composure.

"Look, we've all known from back home the potential that he has, but I think to break through and win for the first time at 20 years old, there's a bright future ahead of him.

"And, yeah, just so happy and so proud of him, really. I've known Tom since he was 10 years old. And to see his progression and see where he is today and get that first win in Europe is, was really cool to see."

World number one Scheffler set a formidable target of six-under-par with a closing 67, and as McIlroy failed to respond, it fell to McCarthy and Hovland to provide the drama.

They shot two-under 70s to finish a shot clear of Scheffler on seven-under before the Norwegian made a seven-footer for winning par on their return to the 18th.

The Oslo native had made a 14-footer there in regulation to heap pressure on McCarthy, who made his lone bogey of the day at the tough finishing hole to get caught at the death.

"I've been playing well," said Hovland, who claimed his fourth PGA Tour win after a series of close calls this season, including a runner-up finish in the PGA Championship two weeks ago.

"I've just been trying to play within myself and play my own game. Maybe before, I would have fired at some pins, I shouldn't have fired at, and I just played smart and played my game and came up clutch this time.

"It feels even better after a few close calls the last few months."

Shane Lowry closed with a 73 to finish tied 16th in level par and leave Ohio happy with his game but frustrated by three bogeys and a double-bogey six at the 14th, where he found water right with his approach.

"I am pretty happy with how I played, but I feel like, and it's kind of like my whole season this year, in that I didn't get the result that I felt like my golf deserved this week", said Lowry.

"Overall, I am very happy where my game is at. There were stages of the tournament yesterday and today where I had the chance to do very well, but then there were shots like a bad shot on 14 and other than that, it was pretty solid golf all day.

"It is just so hard out there and one the hardest golf courses I've ever played. The course this week was the hardest I have ever seen it. It's not going to take much to win this tournament, and that's why I thought to myself, playing the back nine, that if I got to five or six under that, I would not be packing my bags.

"Overall, I am pretty happy as I have some big tournaments coming up, including the Canadian Open this week and followed by the US Open, and with the US Open, our next major, and that is the one I have my eye on."

Seamus Power made one of just three birdies at the 18th to card a 74 to finish tied 41st on four-over par.