Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy share same pain of losing U.S. Open

LOS ANGELES — Rickie Fowler found the perfect antidote to feeling "bummed" after playing his worst round at the worst time at the U.S. Open Sunday.

"Being able to see my daughter before scoring, it kind of takes a lot of that away because in the big picture, big scheme of things … yes, we want to win tournaments and be the one holding the trophy, but she could (not) care less if I shoot 65 or 85," Fowler said

So instead of the trophy, Fowler was holding his 19-month-old daughter Maya as he made the walk from the 18th green to scoring. And holding your daughter on Father's Day eases the pain while putting everything in perspective after shooting 75 on Sunday of the U.S. Open, and going from at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds to a tie for fifth.

Through it all Fowler watched his playing partner, Wyndham Clark, making just his sixth major start, hold on for a one-shot victory over Rory McIlroy with a 10-over total. Clark (70) had never finished higher than a tie for 75th in a major.

Allison Stokke must have known as the shots were not shaping and the struggles mounted, Maya was the one who would get her husband's mind off the round.

"I just didn't have it," said Fowler, who now has started 48 majors without a win. "Iron play was very below average and didn't make anything. That's a big thing in majors, especially on a Sunday … kind of keeping it fairly stress-free.

"It was kind of the opposite. I was kind of fighting through it all day."

Moments earlier McIlroy, Fowler's neighbor in Jupiter, Florida, lamented his round but for a whole different reason. McIlroy's major thirst had been quenched at such a young age, winning his first at 22 and then three more in the next three years.

But that early success, at least in majors, came to screeching halt. Although Rory is headed to a Hall of Fame career with 23 wins, it's now been nearly a decade since he's called himself a major champion.

"When I do finally win this next major, it's going to be really, really sweet," McIlroy said. "I would go through 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another major championship."

Rickie and Rory are friends who are among the Who's Who in Golf Royalty that practice at Michael Jordan's Grove XXIII in Hobe Sound. Though the same age — both are 34, Fowler is five months older — both spoke of a lost opportunity Sunday but in much different ways.

Fowler and Clark shared the lead entering the day with McIlroy one shot behind. For Fowler, it was known pretty quick that the ease in which he navigated the Los Angeles Country Club's North Course the first two days while setting a U.S. Open 36-hole scoring record (130), and maintained that lead with a third round 70, suddenly was a chore.

Fowler dropped five shots after just seven holes that saw him bogey Nos. 2, 5 and 7. He never got closer than three the rest of the way.

Fowler's 75 equaled the worst fourth-round score of anyone who finished in the top 60.

But Fowler is as grounded, and gracious, a player as there is on the PGA Tour. There is a reason he remains wildly popular, even though his struggles that started in 2019 resulted in his world ranking plummeting to 185 last September.

Sunday will sting knowing how close he was for three days to accomplishing something he never has on the golf course. And it should. But Fowler won't allow this to linger. He will look at the big picture, which is his best finish in a major in more than five years.

"Not the position I wanted to be in after today, but a lot of good coming from this week," he said.

McIlroy will view this a little differently. He has been on the cusp of that elusive fifth major. In fact, he was in the top 8 in all four majors in 2022 and has 18 top 10 finishes since his last major championship.

McIlroy, in fact, appeared a lot more frustrated than Fowler as he tried to explain why his lone birdie of the day occurred on the first hole and how his worst shot of the day, a wedge from 124 feet on the par 5 14th that plugged in the bunker, led to his only bogey of the day.

McIlroy was convinced the shot require a full sand wedge as he was walking to the ball but then the wind "started to freshen a little bit." So he switched to a three-quarter gap wedge and hit it just as the wind freshened a bit more.

"If I had it back, I think I had the right club and the right shot," he said. "I might have just had to wait an extra 15 or 20 seconds to let that little gust settle."

Whether it was one bad shot or one bad day, the feeling was familiar for McIlroy and Fowler.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy fall short at US Open; Wyndham Clark wins