McIlroy gets big break at US Open but ice-cold putter costs him the title

By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rory McIlroy got the sort of break most players need to win a U.S. Open. If only he could’ve made a putt or two to go with it. The golf gods, to say nothing of the golf rulebook, gave McIlroy a chance to save par after his approach shot on the 14th hole embedded in the deep grass above a greenside bunker. But McIlroy missed the putt — a common theme throughout the final round — and ended up with his only bogey of the day. That single shot cost him in a one-stroke loss to Wyndham Clark. McIlroy’s drought in the majors is now at 33, a dry spell that is nearing nine full years.