No Claret Jug, but redemption for McIlroy at Portrush
Five-times major champion McIlroy produced a few magical moments over four days for the thousands who descended on the Antrim coast hoping to roar him to British Open glory.
In the end the Northern Irishman fell short, however, finishing tied seventh, seven strokes behind a supreme champion in Scottie Scheffler.
After the gloom of missing the cut in 2019 when the Open returned to the land of his birth for the first time since 1951, though, it felt like a celebration for the 36-year-old who arrived at the course wearing his Masters green jacket.
"I tried as best as I could to keep my emotions in check, especially walking up the last there and that reception," said McIlroy, who briefly threatened to make a charge on Sunday before a double-bogey on the 10th ended his hopes.
"It's been an awesome week," he said. "I've gotten everything I wanted out of this week apart from a Claret Jug, and that's because one person was just a little bit better than the rest of us."
McIlroy remains the world number two and is hungry for more majors after completing his career Grand Slam by winning this year's Masters to end an 11-year major drought.
It will be a few years before golf's oldest major returns to Royal Portrush, though, where McIlroy shot a course record 61 as a teenager.
"I feel so thankful and just so lucky that I get to do this, I get to do this in front of this crowd," he said.
"Hopefully, I'll have one or two Opens left here, if the RA decide to keep coming back, probably one while I'm still competitive and another one while I'm more gray than I already am.
"I think Portrush has quickly turned into one of the best two or three venues that The Open goes to," McIlroy added. "Talk to every player this week, they won't say one bad thing about the golf course."
McIlroy, firing again after a post-Augusta slump, concedes that world number one Scheffler has moved to a different level.
"He is the bar that we're all trying to get to," he said. "In a historical context, you could argue that there's only maybe two or three players in the history of the game that have been on a run like the one that Scottie's been on here for the last 24 to 36 months. Incredibly impressive."
McIlroy said he would scale back slightly after the Open to focus on this year's Ryder Cup in New York.
"I don't want to play too much leading up to that because I want to be fresh." he said. "I'll reflect on what's been already a good year and start to get myself ready for that run-up."
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