The golf gods, to say nothing of the golf rulebook, gave McIlroy a chance to save par after his approach shot on the 14th hole came up short and embedded in the deep grass above a greenside bunker. But McIlroy missed the putt – a common theme on Sunday – and made his only bogey of the day. That single shot cost him in a one-stroke loss to American Wyndham Clark.

McIlroy shot even-par 70 – one birdie, 16 pars and that single bogey – to finish nine-under. His drought in the majors is now at 33 tournaments, a dry spell that is nearing nine years.

"I think the putter, I'll rue some of the chances that I missed," the 34-year-old said.

"It was hard to get the ball really close all day. It was that and that wedge shot on 14, coming up a little short, those are the things I'll rue today."

He finished the day with 36 putts over 18 holes and didn't sink a single one over eight feet.

His attempt to tie things on the 18th green looked like most all of the 18 birdie tries he had over a day in which he hit the ball as well as anyone from tee-to-green. It was a 40 footer that looked like it was tracking, but drifted away for a simple tap-in.

But if there was a single moment that defined the day for McIlroy, it came on the par-5 14th. After driving into the left rough, he punched out to the fairway and had a 125-yard shot into the narrow green.

"I think the putter, I'll rue some of the chances that I missed. It was hard to get the ball really close all day. It was that and that wedge shot on 14, coming up a little short, those are the things I'll rue today." – Rory McIlroy.

The approach came up short. He put both hands on his knees, bent down and stared at his caddie, Harry Diamond, in disbelief. Moments later, McIlroy was down on his knees near the bunker, desperately trying to find the ball that had disappeared in the gnarly grasses above the sand.

He not only found it, but found it embedded in the facing just above the bunker. In the past, an embedded ball that wasn't in the fairway had to be played as it lied. But after a reworking of the rulebook in 2019, free relief is now granted for any ball embedded in any area other than sand.

McIlroy dropped above the bunker, 40 feet away in a perfectly workable lie. He chipped to 10 feet, but missed the par putt. His only bogey of the day put him three behind Clark.

"I felt like my chance was sort of gone," the Northern Irishman said.

McIlroy will go to Hoylake next month for The Open still without a major title since the 2014 PGA Championship.

"I'm right there," he added.

"It's such fine margins at this level. I keep putting myself in these positions and sooner or later it's going to happen for me again."