Regrets? More than one of those with eyes on the Wanamaker Trophy had a few of them at this 108th edition of the US PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, where the shots left behind them were likely to provide the substance for recurring dreams of what-might-have-been.Certainly, with different degrees of angst, the three Irish players who made the cut with hopes of upward charges had regrets.As Pádraig Harrington succinctly put it, “If you surveyed every player this week, I think this will be the biggest amount of players who will be walking away saying, ‘I left six shots out there for the week’.”In his own case, playing the par 5 ninth, one of the easier holes of the championship stats-wise, Harrington’s three-over return on that particular stretch of Philadelphia real estate in the four rounds lingered in his head: “Probably the easiest hole in the course, so there’s my seven shots gone. But every player is going to be in that boat. There’ll be 40 players thinking that, what could have been this week and only one not!”While Rory McIlroy’s driver was long if not particularly straight, playing many of his approach shots in the final round from the rough, the regret was not only with the big stick but also with a putter that refused to take advantage of a number of birdie chances. After his birdie on the second, the Northern Irishman didn’t manage another until 14th which followed a bogey on the drivable par 4 13th which truly summed up his plight. A failure to birdie the par 5 16th summed it up. He had played the par 5s in even par for the week.McIlroy finished with a 69 for four-under 276, in tied-seventh, as Aaron Rai, the Englishman who stayed cool, calm and collected to claim a breakthrough Major title.Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland looks on from the 18th green during the final round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club. Photograph: Andrew Redington/Getty For McIlroy, Harrington and Lowry, it would be a case of moving on to the US Open at Shinnecock Hills in New York with hope but also those regrets.Harrington put on quite the act on the way home – holing out for an eagle on the Par 5 16th after short-siding himself and then chipping in from the edge of the green on the 18th for birdie – in closing out with a 69 for a total of one-under 219, a top-20 that marked his best finish in a Major since placing fourth in the 2021 PGA at Kiawah Island.For a player who competes mainly on the Champions Tour, Harrington’s return to the big stage, where the tougher examination of a Major seemed to focus the mind and his long- and short-games too rose to the challenge, brought an energy of old.“I was still in my head in contention,” said Harrington of his psyche ahead of teeing off, even if six strokes behind overnight leader Alex Smalley with 30 bodies between them.The two spectacular shots coming home catapulted Harrington into his to-20 finish but it was a new Odyssey putter in his bag which proved to be the most rewarding aspect of the Dubliner’s championship, given that he heads on to the US Open next month and a return to the scene of his 2008 Open triumph at Royal Birkdale in July.“I’m always going to be more competitive on a tough golf course, so if 20-under-par was winning this week I wouldn’t be in it. But you put me on a tough golf course for decision-making and my short game really comes into play. I’m going to be more competitive in that environment, and clearly physically I’m good enough. I have struggled a long time with the putter, so this last two weeks my putter has changed and come around.”Lowry’s championship was realistically done for on Friday, that nightmare third round of 76 an outlier in the great scheme of things as he finished up with a 68 for two-over 282 in tied-44th place. His closing tap-in par on the 18th brought with it a respite from tournament play – after 10 tournaments in 12 weeks – with plans for two-weeks family time at home in Florida.“Ah, it got away from me on Friday,” said Lowry. “It wasn’t necessarily much. My golf wasn’t too bad. I just started to get very tentative on the greens and stuff. Today, 68? It probably could have been better as well. So, it’s not far away, but sometimes it feels a lot further away than it is. I think having two weeks off now would be nice to reset.”Lowry, with a corporate day scheduled for Monday outside Philadelphia, will then head home before getting back on the road in a fortnight’s time for a stretch that takes in the Memorial, the Canadian Open, the US Open at Shinnecock Hills and The Travelers before packing the bags for Europe.“I’m looking forward to spending some time with Wendy and the kids, just for a couple of weeks. And not really doing much other than that, to be honest. I’ve four in a row after the break so it’s still a busy summer, but I’ll keep battling away, that’s all you can do.”While Lowry has one eye on improving his FedEx Cup standings to get into the playoffs, his main focus is on the season’s two remaining majors, the US Open and The Open at Royal Birkdale: “I want to do well in the FedEx Cup. But I probably need a couple of good weeks in that to jump up because my plan is not to play much golf in the summer, so that stretch of four weeks will be pretty important for that.“But, you know, in 20 years’ time, you won’t be asking me, ‘Where did you finish in the FedEx Cup in 2026’? Unless you’re a winner. You know what I mean? So, the two Majors are, obviously, first and foremost. And everything else comes after that,” said Lowry.