Rory McIlroy took another disappointing finish in his stride after falling to hold on at the BMW PGA at Wentworth.
The 2014 BMW PGA champion was looking untouchable at Wentworth and led convincingly through 36 holes before a strange Saturday. The Northern Irishman lost his touch and sprayed a number of shots into the packed galleries to give the field a way back.
Nevertheless, he started Sunday level with eventual winner Francesco Molinari but a slow start severely hampered his chances.
Europe’s flagship event will go down as another miss this season after Abu Dhabi, Dubai and The Masters.
‘It’s close,’ said the former world No 1, trying to put the result in perspective. ‘It’s very close. I’ve given myself a great chance here this week. I didn’t quite pull it off but it’s not far away.
‘I get a bit down on myself because my expectations are high and with a 36-hole lead, I should have closed it out this week but that’s not taking anything away from Francesco. He played a great weekend and bogey-free around here is some playing; he deserved the win.
‘I think when you’re working through a bit of a swing change or a swing tweak, it takes more than a week’s work to try to bed it in and this is my first competitive start since trying to rectify things.
‘It’s not a bad week. I got off to a great start, I gave myself a nice cushion after 36 but there’s still enough loose shots in that first 36 holes to know that it’s not quite there.
‘I could have maybe held it together a bit better over the final couple of days but I held in there, I scrambled well, I hung in tough.’
