Rory McIlroy’s brutal unraveling over the final four holes of Pinehurst on Sunday brought back memories of some of golf’s most famous crises.
There have been bigger leads and worse shots played over the years, but the context here is what made it so horrifying; the journey McIlroy has been on, the decade-long wait for that fifth major, the enormous weight on the Northern Irishman’s shoulders every time he goes into battle, the knowledge of what this could do to his mental health. Ultimately, the conversation has to be one of golf’s most painful denouements.
Telegraph Sports assesses where his collapse is among the most famous in golf history.
8. Adam Scott – 2012 Open Championship
The Australian led by four shots, with four remaining to play at the 2012 Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes. He managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, bogeying the last four holes and losing to Ernie Els by one stroke.
7. Jason Dufner – 2011 PGA Championship
Another momentous capitulation. Dufner squandered a five-stroke lead going down the stretch at the Atlanta Athletic Club, hitting his tee shot into the water on 15 before finishing with three straight bogeys. That was still good enough to make a play-off. But Dufner lost out to Keegan Bradley. Exorcised his demons with a two-stroke victory at Oak Hill in the American PGA two years later.
6. Ed Sneed – Masters from 1979
One of the most famous collapses in history. Sneed finished bogey-bogey-bogey to blow his lead and enter a sudden death play-off with Tom Watson and rookie Fuzzy Zoeller. It was the latter who triumphed (still the last debutant to win the Masters, although Ludvig Aberg came very close this year). Sneed has never won a major. McIlroy has at least four.
5. Dustin Johnson – 2010 US Open
An absolute horror show from ‘DJ’ in the final round of the US Open at Pebble Beach in 2010. Johnson started the day with a three-shot lead, hit a triple-bogey at the second and it was all downhill from there. A double-bogey followed on the third. And a further six bogeys during the day saw him score 11 over par, leaving him five behind winner Graeme McDowell. DeChambeau was much less generous towards McDowell’s fellow Northern Irishman McIlroy.
4. Sam Snead – 1947 US Open
Snead won seven major championships in his highly publicized career, but like Mickelson, he never won the US Open. He finished second four times, including in 1947 when he made 18 birdies in his final round to take Lew Worsham to an 18-hole playoff. Snead then led that by two shots, with three to play. Like McIlroy, he missed a putt from three feet away on the 18th, emptying the St Louis Country Club.
3. Rory McIlroy – US Open 2024
There is probably a recent bias by placing it so high on the list. And McIlroy still managed to beat DeChambeau’s score on the final day, posting a 69 to the American’s 71, so it wasn’t a final-round aberration. Far from it. But the scale of McIlroy’s collapse once he took the lead – after chasing him for the rest of the weekend – makes it one of the worst. As Nick Faldo said, it will haunt him for decades. That DeChambeau was able to erase a two-shot deficit despite playing his last five holes at one-over-par says it all.
2. Greg Norman – Masters of 1996
One of the biggest collapses of all time. Certainly one of the most memorable on this side of the pond, as it was a Brit who benefited from it. Greg Norman’s final day 78 at Augusta in 1996 – with five bogeys and two double bogeys – saw him blow a six-shot lead at the 11th hole, handing Faldo his third green jacket.
1. Jean van de Velde – Open Championship 1999
Must be the most spectacular, the most iconic, the most visually appealing. The image of Van de Velde, with his trousers rolled up, smiling as he stands ankle deep in the Barry Burn at Carmoustie, is remembered by all who watched that day unfold. The Frenchman, then ranked 152nd in the world, headed to the 18th tee with a commanding three-shot lead, having led since the second round. But he managed to lose it with an errant drive and then a second shot that bounced off a stand in the wild, before his third found the burn. Van de Velde ultimately decided not to splash out, take a drop and – to his credit – force a play-off against Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie. But he was mentally exhausted, and home hero Lawrie took full advantage of that.
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