Unable to close out Irish Open McIlroy finished one shot shy of forcing a playoff with Rasmus Hojgaard at the Amgen Irish Open after a two-under 69 in the final round. Impact McIlroy was looking to win his national open for the second time and was in great position coming into Sunday with the solo lead. He was in control for much of the day, but a blistering finish from Hojgaard that included birdies on four of the last five holes really turned up the heat. McIlroy made bogey on the par-4 17th to force himself to need an eagle to get to a playoff. He hit an amazing second shot to about 10 feet, but another putt in crunch time just slid by the hole. McIlroy still seems like he is trying to recover from the disappointment of his finish at the U.S. Open and getting a win in his home country would have gone a long way to helping that. It just wasn't to be and now McIlroy will look to put that behind him and try to win the BMW PGA Championship for the second time.
SEPTEMBER 17 • ROTOWIRE