Rory McIlroy says it ‘just shows the standard out here’ after he was pipped by Billy Horschel in a dramatic playoff at Wentworth.
Rory McIlroy says it ‘just shows the standard out here’ after he was defeated by Billy Horschel in an absorbing playoff at the BMW PGA Championship.
McIlroy had a glorious opportunity to win the flagship event on the DP World Tour at Wentworth on the 72nd hole but watched in anguish as his birdie putt slid by the cup.
His miss resulted in a three-man playoff with Horschel and South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence after all three golfers reached 20-under par.
Lawrence bowed out after the first extra hole after he hit a poor tee shot, laid up and then found a watery grave with his third.
McIlroy and Horschel held their nerve, though, each finding the centre of the cup with birdie putts inside 12 feet.
But it was Horschel, the 2021 champion, who prevailed with a sublime eagle putt at the next.
It marked the latest Sunday woe for the four-time major champion, who nearly won the U.S. Open in June, nearly won the Scottish Open in July and nearly won last week’s Irish Open.
“Last week was a tough one,” McIlroy told reporters on Sunday evening, alluding to what transpired at Royal County Down.
McIlroy said he will leave Surrey with his head held high, having played the playoff holes ‘perfectly’.
He added: “But it just shows the standard out here.
“If you slip up just a little bit or don’t make a birdie on a crucial hole, someone is always waiting to take advantage of that and look, I had my chance in regulation.
“[I] had a really awkward yardage for my second. Tried to turn a 4-iron over. I mean, I was lucky that it didn’t go in the water.
“[That is] two weeks in a row [where] I’ve played well. Just not quite well enough.
“But you know, [I am] happy with where my game is and happy where it’s trending.”
McIlroy will now take a week off before he heads to Scotland for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
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“I think the world of him”
For his part, Horschel said he ‘felt’ for McIlroy.
The duo first met each other at the 2007 Walker Cup.
“I think the world of him,” Horschel said.
“I think he’s the best player in our generation. He’s done so much for the game.
“You see the support he has here; you see the support he has around the world. He has the most crowds and supporters outside of Tiger Woods.
“He’s great I think for the game of golf. He does so many great things.”
He added: “Listen, I’m a fan of golf at heart. I do play professionally on the PGA and DP World Tour but I am a golf fan and I want to see great golf and I want to see the top players play well and win, and I know he’s been close a lot this year.
“He has not been able to get it done and you can feel for someone like that.
“I do feel for him a little bit that it was another opportunity that he wasn’t able to get it done, but at the same time, you know, to battle him head-to-head and with other guys on the last playoff hole, I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
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