“This one's been a little easier” - Rory McIlroy on ‘getting over’ major pain after losing the US Open title

Rory McIlroy was on top of the world on Thursday after hitting his first-ever ace on the PGA Tour. However, the golfer couldn’t capitalize on the shot and settled for a T46 finish at the end of Day 1 at the Travelers Championship 2023. Following the day’s play, McIlroy opened up on his near-miss at the US Open last weekend and said that he already ‘got over it.’

McIlroy admitted that his second-place finish at the US Open hurt. However, he stated that it hurt less compared to his loss at The Open at St. Andrews last year. The Northern Irishman said, that his failure last week at the Los Angeles Country Club was a “little easier” to get over than his third-place finish at the 150th Open championship.

Speaking to the media about his US Open finish, after round 1 in the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, Rory McIlroy said, as quoted by the Independent:

“It was disappointing at the time. But in my mind, I quickly turned to all the positives that were obviously there last week. This one's been a little easier to get over than St Andrews last year. St Andrews took me a while.”

It is pertinent to note that McIlroy finished a shot behind Wyndham Clark in LA. This was one of the ace golfer’s closest misses in majors.

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Rory McIlroy opens up on his loss at the US Open

Rory McIlroy was overhauled by LIV Golf’s Cameron Smith on the back nine at the Old Course last year. For the unversed, the PGA Tour star was sitting with a three-shot lead at St. Andrews at a point in the event. However, Smith came from behind and took the win.

Further commenting on his loss at the US Open last week, McIlroy added:

“Wyndham played a great back nine of golf and he held on well and hit some remarkable recovery shots and made some great saves. And, you know, the two shots into the 14th. Again, as I said on Sunday, the two things I’ll rue from that day are the putt on eight and the wedge shot into 14. I felt like I did everything I wanted to do.

When you can't really pick it apart that much, you’ve just got to give credit to the guy that beat you and move on and being able to get back to playing straightaway this week. It's sort of nice. It means I'm not dwelling on stuff and I just go out there and try and play some more good golf.”

Rory McIlroy, on Sunday, had said that he’d take '100 disappointing Sundays' to get his fifth Major championship. The four-time major winner looked confident in landing his next in the near future. It’ll be interesting to see how a more determined McIlroy performs this year at The Open, taking place in July.