4 Key Moments That Ultimately Cost Rory McIlroy the 2024 U.S. Open Championship

Rory McIlroy has undoubtedly been one of the most successful players in all of professional golf, for quite some time. There's no arguing that. But what happened to him Sunday at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst was just the latest in a string of heartbreaking losses. We'll get to those heartbreaking moments in a minute, but first, it's important to note just how successful Rory McIlroy has been. Here's a look at some of his notable accomplishments: Top 10 finishes in each of the last five U.S. Opens; Four-time major winner (2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship, 2014 PGA Championship); 26 career PGA Tour wins, including two in 2024; Second-ranked golfer in the world behind Scottie Scheffler; Over $90 million in career winnings on the course. You could honestly keep going on that list for quite a while. But you get the idea. And before we get to what happened with McIlroy, it's important to give the 2024 champion Bryson DeChambeau a lot of credit here. His miraculous save from near-certain disaster on 18 clinched the win. Yes, he needed some help down the stretch to even be in that position, but it still takes a lot to win the U.S. Open, and he did it. Rory McIlroy and His Close Calls McIlroy has been close a lot lately. He had a chance to win the U.S. Open in 2023, but ultimately ended one shot back of Wyndham Clark. In 2022, he was tied for the lead going into the final round of the British Open, before falling to third. He also finished second in the 2022 Masters, but Scottie Scheffler wasn't going to be caught there. Eleven times in his career, McIlroy has finished as a runner-up in a tournament. Another 11 times, he's finished third. He's had a whopping 78 top-5 finishes, and 123 top 10s! Yes, in 252 events, he's finished in the top 10 123 times. But like we said, Sunday's DeChambeau win doesn't happen without some help. And Rory gave him a lot of that. There were a lot of moments that could have made a difference during the tournament, but there were five in particular that stood out on Sunday. So we're going to take a look here at the four moments that ultimately cost Rory McIlroy the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst.