Despite coughing up his lead and needing to birdie his final hole to shoot even par Saturday at the Italian Open, Rory McIlroy was thinking big picture.
“Thankfully, I'm still in it,” he said.
That sentiment arguably lasted just one hole on Sunday at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, as the world No. 2, playing in the final group alongside Matthew Fitzpatrick and Aaron Rai, double-bogeyed the par-4 first. McIlroy hit his opening tee shot way right, missed the green with his approach, hit a poor chip 50 feet past the flag and eventually missed a 5-footer for bogey.