RORY McIlroy has missed out on the 2024 Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down after another agonising late defeat on the final day.
The course overlooking the Mourne mountains is as good a place as any to exorcise your demons, which is exactly what McIlroy intended to do over the course of the tournament.
McIlroy went into the final day of the tournament with a one-shot cushion to play with, looking comfortable in his surroundings early on and playing well, getting two birdies and just one bogey in the first nine.
He grew his lead to three shots with his playing partner, and second-place rival at the start, Matteo Manassero dropping down the leaderboard after back-to-back bogeys early doors.
The fight for second heated up with Daniel Brown, Rasmus Hojgaard and Matteo Manassero all joining the race at times.
However, Hojgaard, who started the day in third, played outside of himself at the back nine holes although he matched the Holywood man’s score through hole nine.
The 23-year-old Dane got six birdies from the last nine holes, including four of the last five holes to secure the title.
It all came down to the final putt on the 18th hole, with McIlroy needing to sink a 10-footer to force a play-off between him and his Danish counterpart.
However, he wasn’t able to pull it off and he could only birdie the last hole and was one shot too short.