The huge yellow scoreboard that stood stories above the final hole at St. Andrews stared at him whenever he looked out his hotel room window. He imagined his name in black, capital letters standing at the top of the list, the same image he must have thought countless times as a child. The dream came true a day earlier. His name took the top spot on Saturday night after a 66 moved him into a tie for The Open lead with Viktor Hovland. McIlroy spoke that night of his “cocoon,” the place where he could separate his process from the pressure. But every time he looked out his bedroom window, he allowed himself to imagine what could have been the most important victory of his career. “You have to let yourself dream,” McIlroy said. “You have to let yourself think about it and what it would be like, but once I was on the golf course, it was just a job at hand and trying to play the best golf I could.” Only Hovland was even with McIlroy through the first 54 holes of The 150th Open. Both shot 16-under 200, including a matching 66 in Saturday’s second-to-last group to win Sunday’s final tee time. They were four of the players in third place, Cameron Smith and Cameron Young. McIlroy wasn’t the only one dreaming of winning at the Home of Golf. A victory for Great Britain’s great hope in the spiritual center of the game meant a lot. It had been 12 years since he last played an Open on the Old Course and eight years since his last major win. The greatest player of his generation and one of the greatest Europeans of all time, McIlroy endured close calls at majors earlier this year, finishing in the top 10 at each of the first three. Then on Friday, as he began his second round, he crossed paths with Tiger Woods as Woods’ career at St. Andrews has probably reached his end. Woods was moved by McIlroy tipping his hat respectfully as they passed each other. Woods’ last Open at St. Andrews, where he won twice, could have finished with the first victory in St. Andrews for best player since Woods. McIlroy was looking to join Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Europe’s two best of the modern era, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros, by winning on the Old Course, a setting that carries extra significance. A win would tie Ballesteros with five major triumphs and leave him one shy of Faldo’s record for most major championships by a European player since World War I. McIlroy is the player in today’s game who pays the most attention to framing. His legacy is his priority at this point in his career and only a win at Augusta National would do more for that. Like Jordan Spieth seven years earlier, the sentimental favorite did not win at St Andrews, however. McIlroy was bogey-free on Sunday but made just two birdies. His 70 left him in third place, two paces behind winner Cameron Smith. Smith birdied the first five holes of his back nine and closed with a 30 en route to a Sunday 64. Tour rookie Cameron Young, who played with Smith in the second-to-last group, shot a 65 to finish second. McIlroy led most of the day but fell behind after Smith birdied 14. However, McIlroy could only par on the final holes. “I knew I had to respond,” McIlroy said. “I just couldn’t find the shots or the shots to do that.” It was a relatively stress-free day. He drove it well and didn’t bogey, but he also couldn’t hit his shots close enough or take advantage of the Old Course’s driving par-4s. This is the first time in his career that McIlroy has finished in the top 10 at all four majors. He is third in the world rankings and fifth in the FedExCup with two wins this season. He spoke this week about the confidence he has in his game and the freedom it has produced. He reunited with longtime swing coach Michael Bannon and won last month’s RBC Canadian Open while partner Harry Diamond was at home with his wife and newborn child. It required him to make more course decisions and rely less on his long looper. “I’m more in control of my swing and my game,” he said. He left last month’s US Open saying he was “closer than I’ve been in a long time”. But on Sunday, McIlroy tried to trust his readings on the late greens of St. Andrews and watched several birdies slip through the hole. While Smith was in the middle of his birdie, McIlroy couldn’t capitalize on two of St. Louis’ driving par-4s. Andrews, Nos. 9 and 12, and bogeyed the par-5 14th when a birdie would have pulled him even with Blacksmith. McIlroy missed long birdies at 15 and 16, as well as a 20 at the tricky 17th, after Smith putt two shots behind the Road Bunker. Smith’s birdie on the final hole meant McIlroy had to make eagle on 18. It was over when his second shot missed the hole. “There were a lot of putts today where I couldn’t trust myself to start it in the hole,” he said. “I always started it on the edge or just outside thinking it would move. Most of the time, they just stayed there.” McIlroy focused on the positives in his post-round press conference and tried to put the result in perspective – “It’s not life or death,” he said – but the scene after he stepped away from the microphone painted a fuller picture. A golf cart was waiting to take McIlroy to the locker room. He sat down next to his wife, Erica, and rested his head face down on her shoulder. He had no more energy to spend. The fight was over. The Old Course is a romantic setting for those with a deep connection to the game. A tour of the historical sites evokes a variety of emotions. Including heartbreak.
