The Open: Nostalgia turns to misery for Rory McIlroy as mental scars kill off hopes

The cycles of hope and expectation whirred back into life again as Rory McIlroy’s ball travelled across the first green at Royal Liverpool. He had begun the third round nine shots behind, in urgent need of a fast start to recover the ground lost to Brian Harman, and an opening birdie reawakened the old sense of belief. The crowd suddenly gathered size and speed, answering the roars of promise that echoed across Hoylake, but the past nine years have taught us those flashes of promise are the precursor to heartbreak.

It proved so again with crushing familiarity on Satuday as McIlroy’s momentum petered out, slowly and cruelly, with the gap to Harman and the calibre of players in between assuring his major drought will extend

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THE OPEN | RICK BROADBENT