What, you thought Rory McIlroy was going to just give up? Retire? Throw his clubs in a Dumpster and go play minor-league baseball? Come on.
When the golf world last saw McIlroy, he was walking through a Pinehurst, N.C. parking lot, brokenhearted at letting yet another chance at a major — maybe his best chance — slip through his hands yet again. He'd lost the U.S. Open thanks to two crucial missed short putts in the final three holes, and he had nothing left to give as Bryson DeChambeau celebrated a few dozen yards away.
McIlroy went to ground then, withdrawing from a planned tournament appearance and disappearing into silence right up until Wednesday morning.