Dispatch from Rory: 'See you in Scotland'

Gutted after late U.S. Open demise, McIlroy will take time off to 'rebuild'; Stray Shots on epic championship and new 'deal'

Rory McIlroy was all alone in front of the world (Logan Whitton/USGA)

What happened Sunday at Pinehurst No. 2 continues to reverberate through realm of professional golf.

Rory McIlroy missed like Doug Sanders or Scott Hoch. Bryson DeChambeau did his best impersonation of the Desert Fox. A loss turned into a win — or vice versa.

Now the two sides go back to their respective corners — DeChambeau to Nashville, Tenn., to play in the LIV Golf event and McIlroy decided to skip the Travelers Championship and take a few weeks off until he shows up at the Genesis Scottish Open to defend his title from last year. They’ll both be together again at Royal Troon for the British Open.

After ditching post-tournament press interviews and high-tailing it out of Pinehurst on Sunday. McIlroy delivered his thoughts and plans in a social media post on Monday. He gave much deserved props to Bryson DeChambeau on winning the battle and lamented the mistakes that cost him on on a day he called “probably the toughest I’ve had in my nearly 17 years as a professional golfer.”

The one-shot loss was the same deficit as last year’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club to Wyndham Clark. When McIlroy lost on that Sunday, however, he talked to the media about the loss and how he felt he did little wrong and was focused on getting ready for the Open at Hoylake, where he won in 2014.

“The last real two chances I’ve had at majors I feel like have been pretty similar performances, like St. Andrews last year and then here,” McIlroy said in L.A. “Not doing a lot wrong, but I didn’t make a birdie since the first hole today. Just trying to be a little more, I guess, efficient with my opportunities and my looks. Again, overall when you’re in contention going into the final round of a U.S. Open, I played the way I wanted to play. There was just a couple of shots, two or three shots over the course of the round that I'd like to have back.”