Missed Opportunities and Missed Fairways: Rory McIlroy's Sunday at Aronimink

It wasn't St. Andrews. It wasn't Pinehurst No. 2. But Rory McIlroy will look back on the PGA Championship at Aronimink as a missed opportunity. On Saturday, he told BBC Sport that he doesn't want majors to pass him by as he has roughly 40 prime opportunities left to win more. I have a feeling he'll be kicking himself over this one.

He bogeyed his final four holes Thursday to post an opening 74, immediately putting himself behind the eight ball. But thanks to a favorable wave draw, some help from Mother Nature, and plenty of good golf, McIlroy was just three shots back heading into Sunday's final round.

And then, like it did during the first round—and, if I'm honest, for much of the season—his driver let him down. He couldn't find the short stuff down the stretch, which meant attacking Aronimink's tricky green complexes with short irons was off the table. Instead, it was hack and hope. And when opportunities did present themselves, he didn't convert.

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He had less than 200 yards into the par-5 ninth with his second shot, but came up short with a 7-iron. He then rushed a putt from off the green past the flag, and missed the downhill slider coming back. At the driveable 13th, he got under a fairway wood and lost his tee shot way right. His first chip didn't find the green, his second didn't reach the correct tier, and he walked off with a bogey. Then at the par-5 16th, he flared an iron from the rough to the right of the green, leaving himself no shot at the front-right pin with a bunker between his ball and the putting surface. Par was the best he could do at a hole he's expected to dominate.

For the week, McIlroy was even par on the eight par 5s he played, ranking T-77 among the 82 players who made the cut. Even right after signing his card, he knew it didn't take much imagination to see a very different outcome.

"To me, I felt like I played the golf I needed to play the rest of the way," he said. "If I birdied the two par-5s and turned that 5 into a 3 on 13, the day looks very different."

He's set to play The Memorial next month—one of golf's elite events he has yet to win—but my eyes are already on Shinnecock. McIlroy is playing well, his mindset around majors has sharpened with urgency, and no one has been a better U.S. Open player over the last seven years: T-9 (2019), T-8 (2020), T-7 (2021), T-5 (2022), 2nd (2023), 2nd (2024), T-19 (2025).

The Calendar Slam is off the table. Two of the first three still isn't.