Los Angeles Country Club – Syndication Server

Pebble Beach another example of how the courses keep getting better for the U.S. Women’s Open

The U.S. Women’s Open is reaching parity with men’s majors when it comes to host courses.

This is a special year as elite women golfers have the chance to experience two great courses for major championships in the United States: Baltusrol’s Lower Course for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Pebble Beach Golf Links for the U.S. Women’s Open.

That’s back-to-back majors on two major-worthy layouts over the span of three weeks in June and July, with the Women’s Open slated this week.

It wasn’t always this way. Women’s major championships have a checkered history of course selections.

The U.S. Women’s Open, for example, for decades was played for the most part on a slate of courses that in no way measured up to the layouts on which men’s majors were contested. In most years, with only a sprinkling of exceptions, the greatest women players in the game played less-than-stellar courses – many host sites were solid regional or local tracks, but world-beaters they were not.

Things began to change in the mid-1980s, as the Women’s Open moved with greater frequency to courses ranked among the top 200 in Golfweek’s Best rankings of either classic (built before 1960) or modern (built in or after 1960) layouts. Women’s Open course selection peaked in 1992 at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania, which hosted the event again in 2010.

As measured by average rating, course selection has continued to improve over the past 20 years. Golfweek’s Best utilizes more than 800 raters who evaluate courses according to 10 criteria and then offer an overall rating of 1 to 10. Their votes are averaged to compile various course rankings lists, including the modern and classic lists. In general, any course rated above 6 would be considered by most players to be a nice local or regional course, and in most cases a course rated above 7 would be worth traveling some distance to play. A layout scoring higher than 8 is among the top 60 or so courses in the world, and only seven courses in the world rank above 9 points – Oakmont is among those seven.

The average rating of the host courses for the U.S. Women’s Open has improved in each of the past three decades. For the period of 1993-2002, the average (using the 2022 Golfweek’s Best ratings for data) was 6.924. It improved to 7.100 in 2003-2012, and it climbed a bit more to 7.195 for the 10 Women’s Opens of 2013-2022. Compare that to the average of 6.277 from 1973-1982.

And course selection only continues to improve. Starting this year with Pebble Beach (using the 2023 Golfweek’s Best ratings for data), the lineup of announced sites for the U.S. Women’s Open scores an average rating of 8.36 among Golfweek’s Best raters. That’s in line with men’s championships and a far cry from the days when the Women’s Open might be played on a course that hardly anyone in the next state over had ever heard of.

Each of the sites announced to host future Women’s Opens is ranked inside the top 100 Golfweek’s Best modern or classic courses in the U.S. Three of the sites – Oakmont (No. 6 in the 2023 ranking of classic courses), Merion’s East Course (No. 7) and Pebble Beach Golf Links (No. 10) – rank among the top 10 classic courses in the United States. Another four – Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course (No. 14 in the 2023 rankings), Pinehurst No. 2 (No. 17), Riviera (No. 18) and Oakland Hills’ South Course (tied for No. 22) – rank among the top 25.

It’s been a long wait for course selection for the premium women’s golf event to catch up with that of the men, but things are certainly headed in the right direction.

USGA admits incorrect ruling given to Rory McIlroy at 2023 U.S. Open

An executive with the USGA defended McIlroy, as well as the veteran official who gave the ruling.

It’s been just more than a week since Rory McIlroy lost the 2023 U.S. Open to Wyndham Clark by one shot after he made a crucial bogey on the par 5 14th hole, his lone blemish of the final round.

And if you can think back to Sunday at Los Angeles Country Club, you’ll remember McIlroy got a favorable ruling from an embedded lie that allowed him to drop in the bunker to only make bogey to remain in contention.

On Monday, an executive with the United States Golf Association told Sports Illustrated that McIlroy took an incorrect drop after consulting with a veteran rules official.

“The nearest point of relief was mis-identified; it should have been directly behind the ball,” said the USGA’s chief governance officer, Thomas Pagel. “If there’s no area immediately behind the ball, you go to nearest point in the general area. But if you look at where the ball was embedded, there was a grassy area below and that should have been the starting point.”

2023 U.S. Open — Rory McIlroy gets relief from an embedded ball on the 14th green during the final round of the 123rd U.S. Open Championship at The Los Angeles Country Club on June 18, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

McIlroy’s third shot to the 14^th green got caught in thick grass surrounding a greenside bunker, and after a short search his playing partner, Scottie Scheffler, found the ball. Rules official Courtney Myrhum, who has officiated more than 60 USGA championships, confirmed the ball was embedded and allowed McIlroy to take a free drop.

“His ball was 100 percent embedded,” Pagel said in agreement with the official. “And an embedded ball not in sand is entitled to relief. Now Rory did everything at the discretion of the referee. In her discretion, her judgment was that the reference point for relief was to the side of the ball. And from a ruling standpoint, that’s the end of the story.”

Pagel continued to defend Myrhum, noting how “she’s an extremely well-qualified referee and she did everything in her judgment where to operate the drop. However, after further review, it was determined that there was a spot in the general area immediately behind the ball that was the reference point for relief.”

Because there was space between the ball and the bunker, McIlroy was entitled to a one-club length drop, no closer to the hole, from the “the general area” of the embedded spot, meaning a drop from the bunker was incorrect.

“If you look at where the ball embedded, just below should have been the starting point (for taking one club length relief),” Pagel said. “But even if his club length had been measured from behind the ball, he still would have been dropping on the shelf from where he played from. As it was, he measured the club length from the top of the wall to the right. As he dropped the ball out of that area, he had to drop a second time.”

“When you start dealing with vertical faces, that’s where the question is,” Pagel added. “In this case, there was a lot going on. But there was a place behind the ball where he could have started to measure.”

“From where he started measuring from, he didn’t get a break. And he did all of this at the discretion of the referee. He wasn’t doing anything to gain an advantage and as he was told how to apply the rule on where to drop.”

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Rory McIlroy calls Travelers Championship host TPC River Highlands obsolete: ‘Technology has passed this course by’

“When we come to courses like this they just don’t present the challenge that they used to.”

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Rory McIlroy isn’t a fan of tournaments like the Travelers Championship.

Even after a T-7 finish where McIlroy shot 18 under at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, he doesn’t like courses that allow the best players in the world to have birdie fests to win titles. Keegan Bradley took home the title at 23 under.

“Unfortunately technology has passed this course by, right,” McIlroy said after the final round. “It sort of has made it obsolete, especially as soft as it has been with a little bit of rain that we had.

“Like the conversations going back to, you know, limiting the golf ball and stuff like that, when we come to courses like this they just don’t present the challenge that they used to.”

Playing at 6,852 yards, TPC River Highlands is the second shortest course on the PGA Tour this season, behind Port Royal, which hosts the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. And players took advantage of scorable conditions in the Northeast.

Rickie Fowler and Denny McCarthy each shot 60. Patrick Cantlay added a 61. There were more 62s, 63s and 64s, as well.

McIlroy was then asked what courses like TPC River Highlands, which has hosted the Travelers Championship since 1984, can do to stay relevant in today’s game.

“You can grow the rough up and hope you get some firm conditions so it gets tricky. I think the blueprint for a really good golf course isn’t growing the rough up and making the fairways tight. That bunches everyone together,” he explained. “The blueprint is something like LACC where you have wide targets, but if you miss it’s penal. This isn’t that sort of golf course. It’s not that sort of layout. It doesn’t have the land to do that.”

“So, you know, unfortunately when you get soft conditions like this and you’ve got the best players in the world, this is what’s going to happen.”

The winning score last week at the U.S. Open was 10 under. McIlroy finished second at 9 under.

The lowest winning score this season on Tour was Jon Rahm shooting 27 under to win the American Express, which is played on three courses. Last month, Jason Day won the AT&T Byron Nelson at 23 under.

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The story of ‘Jelly and Dub’: How caddie John Ellis helped Wyndham Clark become U.S. Open champion

Ellis had played enough at the highest level to realize Clark had all the tools to be a star on the PGA Tour.

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Some bogeys are better than others.

During Sunday’s final round of the 123^rd U.S. Open, Wyndham Clark escaped with just one dropped shot at the par-5 eighth hole after his second shot bounced left and into a dry barranca. On his first attempt to dislodge the ball from the underbrush, his club slid underneath the ball and didn’t move. He hacked at it again and this time the ball screamed over the green. At that moment, Clark said his mind started racing and it looked as if his dream of winning a major might unravel like a spool of thread. Fortunately, caddie John Ellis stepped in to set his player at ease.

“He said, ‘Hey, Dub, we’re fine. We’re just going to get this up-and-down and we’re fine,’” recalled Clark.

He did just that, closing in even-par 70 at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course and holding on for a one-stroke victory over Rory McIlroy at the U.S. Open.

Clark, 29, and Ellis, 43, are back at it this week at TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut. The duo first teamed up at Oregon in 2016 after Clark transferred there from Oklahoma State for his senior year. Oregon had just won the national title and its star player, Aaron Wise, turned pro, freeing up enough financial aid for men’s head coach Casey Martin, who had recruited Clark in high school when he played in the Pacific Coast Amateur in Eugene, Oregon, to bring him on board. At the same time, Ellis’s pro career was fizzling out.

He had turned pro in 2003 after being named a two-time All-Pac-10 player at Oregon and bounced around golf’s minor leagues, winning the Canadian Tour’s Order of Merit in 2008 and twice qualifying for the U.S. Open in 2008 and 2011. Between 2004 and 2011, “Jelly,” as the other caddies call him, played in nine PGA Tour events, missing the cut in seven of them, and made just 16 Korn Ferry Tour starts between 2005 and 2015. With his playing career stalled, Ellis turned to coaching, returning to his alma mater as an assistant to Martin.

Clark, who lost his mother at age 19 and was prone to emotional outbursts on the course, was in need of a fresh start. Martin looked to Ellis to help rebuild his confidence on the course.

“I put a plan in place to get him get him back to where his talent could come out. I just kind of connected the dots,” Martin said. “At our first event, I said, ‘You’re going to be watching over this guy a lot. I want you to caddie for him and play a big role in his life and just be with him all the time and make sure he’s mentally and emotionally in a good place.’ John did an unbelievable job for a guy that’s never coached before. He and Wyndham hit it off. He has an amazing ability to kind of tease Wyndham and to get his point across without being overly serious. He absolutely nailed it.”

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Under Ellis’s watchful eye, Clark blossomed into the 2017 Pac-12 Conference individual champion and was named Golfweek’s Collegiate Player of the Year.

Unfortunately, for Martin, Ellis did such a good job that when Clark turned pro, he took Ellis with him to be his caddie. Ellis had played enough at the highest level to realize Clark had all the tools to be a star on the PGA Tour.

“I mean, he is a huge talent. I mean, he’s not a medium talent. He is a massive, massive talent,” Martin said. “I mean, top 10 player in the world talent wise, for sure. If he just, you know, doesn’t get in his own way, which is easier said than done.”

Strangely enough, Ellis had a reputation for being a hot-head too, the type of player who didn’t hesitate to snap a club in half if it was misbehaving. But as a caddie for the past five years, he’s been a calming influence for Clark.

“He was Tyrrell Hatton as a player and Tony Robbins as a caddie,” CBS analyst Colt Knost said.

In what he described as an intervention, Ellis was a prominent voice in convincing Clark to begin seeing mental coach Julie Elion, which has paid quick dividends. Last week, Clark described Ellis, who was awarded the first-ever U.S. Open Caddie Award, as a friend, mentor and coach, too.

Wyndham Clark holds up his trophy with his caddie John Ellis after winning the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. (Photo: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)

“Our relationship has been so close and John has been kind of my rock out here. He’s a great caddie, and he’s had opportunities to caddie for other people and he turned it down because he wanted to be there for me,” Clark said. “I owe a lot to him. I feel like John is meant to be my caddie, but it’s so much more than just a business relationship. We’re really close and good friends, and I’m close with his family and he’s close with mine. This just makes it so much more special that we have that bond and relationship.”

2023 U.S. Open on NBC was most watched since 2019, up 27 percent from last year

The final round averaged 8.8 million viewers during primetime and peaked at 10.2 million.

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Wyndham Clark outlasted a star-powered leaderboard Sunday to claim his first major championship at Los Angeles Country Club.

The 2023 U.S. Open received a lot of criticism on social media for the commercial load, substandard announcing and lack of atmosphere due to general admission policy.

However, the TV ratings were extremely good.

NBC Sports reports that its 2023 Open was up 27 percent compared to the championship at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, averaging 6.2 million viewers across NBC and Peacock. That’s the highest since 2019 when the event was held at Pebble Beach.

The numbers were also up nine percent compared to 2021, the last time the U.S. Open was held on the West Coast (Torrey Pines, won by Jon Rahm).

NBC says across its platforms, the final round averaged 8.8 million viewers during prime time and peaked at 10.2 million from 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET.

For comparison, the PGA Championship received 4.5 million viewers last month at Oak Hill.

The Masters is still the most-watched men’s major in 2023. In fact, it’s the most-watched golf broadcast in the past five years on any network, CBS reported in April after averaging 12.058 million viewers for the final round.

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Golfweek’s Best 2023: Top 200 Classic Courses in the U.S. built before 1960

Golfweek’s experts have ranked the Top 200 courses built before 1960, such as Augusta National, Pebble Beach and more.

Are you a big fan of Golden Age golf architecture? You’re in the right spot. Welcome to the Golfweek’s Best 2023 list of the Top 200 Classic Courses opened before 1960 in the United States.

Each year we publish many lists, with this Top 200 Classic Courses list among the premium offerings. Also extremely popular and significant are the lists for Top 200 Modern Courses 2023, the public-access Best Courses You Can Play in each state and Best Private Courses in each state.

The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings. The top handful of courses in the world have an average rating of above 9, while many excellent layouts fall into the high-6 to the 8 range.

To ensure these lists are up-to-date, Golfweek’s Best in recent years has altered how the individual ratings are compiled into the rankings. Only ratings from rounds played in the past 10 years are included in the compilations. This helps ensure that any course in the rankings still measures up.

Courses also must have a minimum of 25 votes to qualify for the Top 200 Modern or the Top 200 Classic. Other Golfweek’s Best lists, such as Best Courses You Can Play or Best Private, do not require as many votes. This makes it possible that a course can show up on other lists but not on the premium Top 200 lists.

Each course is listed with its average rating next to the name, the location, the year it opened and the designers. The list notes in parenthesis next to the name of each course where that course ranked in 2022.

After the designers are several designations that note what type of facility it is:

p: private
d: daily fee
r: resort course
t: tour course
u: university
m: municipal
re: real estate
c: casino

* Indicates new to or returning to this list.

After a record-setting start, Rickie Fowler comes up short of elusive major title at 2023 U.S. Open

It would be easy for Fowler to beat himself up. Instead, he’s choosing to lean on his newfound perspective.

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LOS ANGELES – By his own admission, Rickie Fowler just didn’t have it today.

Fowler set a championship record with an opening-round 8-under 62 at the 2023 U.S. Open and held at least a share of the lead until Sunday afternoon at Los Angeles Country Club. With a long-awaited first major championship just ahead on the horizon, the California native was chasing a historic win less than 100 miles from his hometown. He found himself in the final pairing alongside eventual champion Wyndham Clark, a position he’s been in twice before, both in 2014.

Fowler finished T-2 behind Martin Kaymer at the U.S. Open that year and T-2 behind Rory McIlroy later in the summer at the Open Championship. This time, Fowler sprayed his way to a 5-over 75 and finished T-5, five shots off the pace.

MORE: 2023 U.S. Open leaderboard

“Iron play was very below average and didn’t make anything. That’s a big thing in majors, especially on a Sunday. Making putts and kind of keeping it fairly stress-free,” said Fowler, who now has nine top-five finishes in 48 major appearances. “(Sunday) was kind of the opposite. I was kind of fighting through it all day.”

“I wasn’t as tight in hitting my spots, and that was how it was, especially the first two days,” Fowler continued. “I had a lot of control and was able to place the ball where I wanted on greens, and today I was just a bit off, whether it was left, right, more so than distance control, and just wasn’t able to put the ball in the proper position where I could go be aggressive to make putts.

“We had a lot of good stuff this week. Unfortunately today we just couldn’t get it going.”

Fowler knew his ship had sailed off into the Pacific sunset when Clark hit a gem of a shot from 282 yards to just 20 feet on the par-5 14^th hole.

“That was a very good shot in the situation and moment. Obviously made 4. I thought if I could make that putt on the next, which I nearly did, I thought that might kind of give me a shot to get a two-shot swing and maybe make a run in the last three,” said Fowler. “No, I knew I was on the outside looking in, but at the same time, you never know what’s going to happen. You don’t wish bad on anyone, but it’s tough to close out tournaments. Yeah, somewhere I’d say probably when I missed the fairway on 16, I knew that was going to be a tough hill to climb from there.”

It would be easy for Fowler to beat himself up after each round got a little bit worse as the week went on. After his record-setting 62, he signed for scores of 68 and 70 before his first over-par round of the championship Sunday. Instead, he’s choosing to take the high road and appreciate the perspective that comes with another close call.

“I was just really excited on how I felt this week, how comfortable I felt to go out and back up my first round and continue to play well. I enjoyed it. You learn from all your experiences,” explained Fowler. “Not the position I wanted to be in after today, but a lot of good coming from this week.”

Fans showed out for the California kid this week, with bright orange shirts and hats scattered all throughout the final-round gallery. While he appreciated the fan support, his family support will make this bad-tasting finish a lot easier to swallow.

“Obviously very bummed, but being able to see my daughter before scoring, it kind of takes a lot of that away because in the kind of big picture, big scheme of things, yes, we want to win tournaments and be the one holding the trophy, but she could care less if I shoot 65 or 85,” he said. “But to have her there, and then we’ll travel to Travelers tomorrow morning, yeah, it kind of just makes you realize and understand golf is special and it’s what I love to do, but it’s definitely not everything.”

Fowler’s form has been on the upward trend as of late, especially this season. In 18 PGA Tour starts, the 34-year-old has seven top 10 finishes, including a runner-up showing at the Zozo Championship last fall. He’s consistently been in the mix, and another solid major performance seems more likely to be in the cards than not, which hasn’t been the case for quite some time.

Phil Mickelson won his first major at the 2004 Masters after 47 career major appearances without a victory. Adam Scott claimed his first after 48 starts at the 2013 Masters. Stewart Cink took 50 tries before he was victorious at the 2009 Open Championship. Others to win their first majors late in their careers include Sergio Garcia (74 starts), Tom Kite (72 starts), Mark O’Meara (59 starts) and Darren Clarke (54 starts).

Fowler performance this week won’t change a thing about how he’s viewed in the media or by fans. Whether it’s a good result or bad, Fowler is open and honest with his answers on his game. Whether he shoots 65 or 75, he’ll sign autographs for young fans until his hand cramps. He’s been a fixture in the game for more than a decade, and another disappointing result won’t change that.

The 2023 U.S. Open just wasn’t his week in the end, but who’s to say the next won’t be?

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Resilient Rory McIlroy suffers another major disappointment at 2023 U.S. Open, but a sweet reward is still to come

McIlroy now has 19 top-10 finishes since his last major victory in 2014.

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LOS ANGELES – The long wait continues for Rory McIlroy.

It was as if the stars were aligning for the kid from Holywood, Northern Ireland, to break his nine-year major drought this week at Los Angeles Country Club in the shadows of the Hollywood hills.

After taking advantage of benign conditions Thursday with a 5-under 65, McIlroy remained in the periphery of the leaders with rounds of 67 and 69 by staying true to his game plan of playing smart and with patience. Entering Sunday’s final round, he was one shot off the leader (and eventual champion) Wyndham Clark. A birdie at the first had the crowd stirring in anticipation. Little did they know it would be his last.

McIlroy missed chance after chance, putt after putt, and a couple poor decisions by his own admission kept him from every truly putting the pressure on Clark. The result? A ho-hum, even-par 70 and another major left on the table.

Sound familiar? McIlroy compared this week to last year’s Open at St. Andrews, where he held a share of the 54-hole lead but managed just two birdies to finish third, one stroke behind Cameron Young and two behind winner Cameron Smith.

“There was a couple of things that I probably would have done differently, but all in all, I played a solid round of golf,” a visibly disappointed McIlroy said after the round. “That one wedge shot on 14, missed birdie putt on 8, really apart from that, I did everything else the way I wanted to.”

“Yeah, fine, fine margins at this level and at this tournament especially, but I fought to the very end. I obviously never give up. And I’m getting closer,” he continued. “The more I keep putting myself in these positions, sooner or later it’s going to happen for me. Just got to regroup and get focused for (Royal Liverpool) in a few weeks’ time.”

Rewatching old videos of his 2014 Open Championship win at Royal Liverpool – the English venue that will host this year’s Open in a matter of 32 days – made him realize how he needed to keep the driver in the bag this week and trust his other skills around the famed LACC’s North Course.

“I thought I did really well at executing my game plan, hitting a lot of fairways, hitting a lot of greens, again, what you should do at a U.S. Open,” he explained. “If anything, I felt like over the last two days when the greens started to get quite crispy that my speed control was off a little bit, and I think that’s the reason I didn’t hole a lot of putts. I don’t think I was hitting bad putts; just hitting them just with slightly the wrong speed. Some were coming up short, some were going a little long.”

“I can play free. I think I proved that today,” McIlroy added. “Just felt like my speed control was a little off with the putter. That’s probably why I didn’t make a birdie since the first.”

So where does he go from here? Nobody wants McIlroy to win more than himself, and he praised his ability to bounce back earlier in the week.

“I’ve been trying and I’ve come close over the past nine years or whatever it is, and I keep coming back,” he said after 36 holes on Friday. “I feel like I’ve showed a lot of resilience in my career, a lot of ups and downs, and I keep coming back. And whether that means that I get rewarded or I get punched in the gut or whatever it is, I’ll always keep coming back.”

This week was a punch in the gut. If the reward is to come, he’ll need to practice what he preaches.

“I would go through 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another major championship,” he added on Sunday. With 19 top 10s on his resume since his last major win, he’s nearly a quarter of the way there.

According to McIlroy, the countdown to the Open started three minutes before his post-round presser, but he’s got a few stops before his next crack at finding water to end his drought. First up is the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut next week before heading across the pond to The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland for the Genesis Scottish Open, July 13-16, held a week before the Open.

If there’s one thing we learned from this week, it’s that the countdown to Royal Liverpool is on, and McIlroy will be back.

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How each LIV Golf player fared at the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club

The trend of LIV golfers contending at majors continued at the 2023 U.S. Open.

LOS ANGELES — The trend of LIV Golf players contending at majors continued this week at the 2023 U.S. Open.

Fifteen players who took their talents to the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and financially backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund were in the 156-player field, and 10 made the weekend cut. Cam Smith and Dustin Johnson were both within striking distance of the leaders on the weekend, and both earned top-10 finishes.

Earlier this year three LIV players finished in the top six at the Masters, and of the 16 players who competed at the 2023 PGA Championship, 11 made the weekend cut.

Check out how each of the LIV Golf League players fared this week at the 2023 U.S. Open.

MORE: U.S. Open leaderboard

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Lynch: Rory McIlroy’s long wait will carry on, but so will he

McIlroy has became known as the best player waiting for another major.

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LOS ANGELES — In major championship golf, like Los Angeles traffic, it’s the waiting that wears you down.

There’s been a symbiotic relationship between Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler that stretches back to the Walker Cup at Royal County Down in 2007, when they were 18, all flowing locks and potential. Both have delivered on that promise, one more than the other.

Fowler’s first PGA Tour victory came in a playoff over McIlroy at the same course where McIlroy had won his maiden title two years earlier. McIlroy’s last major win, the ’14 PGA Championship, came in a twilight nail-biter over Fowler at Valhalla. His first major title – the ’11 U.S. Open – was logged less than four years after he turned professional, so he was never branded as the best golfer without a major, the burdensome millstone that has been draped around the neck of so many. Fowler, almost five months older, has been mentioned in such dispatches on the back of a handful of Tour titles, including the Players Championship.

For McIlroy, three more majors followed in quick succession – two PGA Championships and the older Open – but none since that second Wanamaker Trophy at Valhalla nine years ago. For about half of those 3,234 intervening days, he’s had a sense of how it feels to wear that major-less label. He has four of them, but McIlroy has became known as the best player waiting for another major. And that might be worse than the winless designation.

Being referred to as the best player without a major suggests that one’s best is ahead. To be known as the best player waiting for another implies that the best might well be in the rear view.

McIlroy has done about all he can to dispel that notion since Valhalla: another 14 wins on the PGA Tour with three victories in the season-long FedEx Cup, another four wins in Europe and three season’s best titles there, plus 18 top ten finishes in majors, half of them top fives. That’s several careers worth by most standards, but for all that he is continually judged by what he has not won lately.

Even casual observers noticed a change in McIlroy this week. Outwardly, not much was different. Sure, he skipped a press conference – his reasoning was that he’d said all he wants to on the PGA Tour’s proposed deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund – but otherwise he was his usual self. But there was also an unmistakable edge of impatience, the air of one who has had just about enough of this crap in the majors.

For someone as competitive as McIlroy, the nine-year quest for a fifth major is wearing enough, but his failure to accomplish it is magnified by the success of others. Brooks Koepka has won five since McIlroy’s fourth. Jordan Spieth has three. Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas have a couple each. So too Collin Morikawa, fresh out of college. For chrissakes, even Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, a generation older and spent forces on paper, have won since ’14.

Perhaps that pointy-elbowed focus this week was born from Koepka winning the PGA Championship last month in the Rochester, New York, hometown of McIlroy’s wife, Erica. Maybe he was unburdened by picking out the shrapnel he took for a Tour that ultimately treated him like a “sacrificial lamb,” in his words. Or it could have been the grouping with Koepka the first two rounds, in which he clipped him by eight shots.

Whatever the motivation, for most the 123rd U.S. Open, McIlroy’s game delivered on it. He wielded his driver like Thor’s hammer to batter L.A.C.C.’s North course into submission. On Sunday, he played what has long been thought an ideal U.S. Open final round – birdie early, then grind out pars. But his putter went tepid, just as it did in the closing round of the Open at St. Andrews last summer, and he was hosed by a lousy break in a bunker on the 14th hole. It was destined to be another crushing Sunday in a major.

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Fowler is McIlroy without the hardware. He has an impeccable reputation and lucrative personal brand, and as a 34-year-old father has outgrown the neon highlighter fashions, even if he hasn’t stopped wearing them. He entered the final round with a share of the lead but leaked oil all day, a series of bogies leaving him a few shots adrift.

McIlroy and Fowler both leave Los Angeles still waiting, one for five, the other for one. Fowler can take more from this U.S. Open than can McIlroy. For the Northern Irishman, it was a golden opportunity that he allowed to slide by. For the Californian, it was an unexpectedly strong performance after four years in the doldrums. On days like this, small victories can bring consolation.

From Los Angeles Country Club, it’s six miles east to Hollywood, and about another 5,000 and change east to Holywood Golf Club outside Belfast, where McIlroy grew up. The road he has traveled between those two points was once as smooth and thrilling as an autobahn. In recent years, it has felt more like a country lane, full of unexpected turns and jolting potholes. The next stop on his road is Royal Liverpool, the site of his third major win nine years ago. It will be another reminder of the player he was, and that he will be again. Just wait.