Scottie Scheffler has offered a sympathetic perspective on Rory McIlroy's recent near-misses, insisting the Northern Irishman did not lose the BMW PGA Championship but was simply beaten by a brilliant shot. McIlroy lost a three-way play-off at Wentworth last Sunday when Billy Horschel holed an eagle putt on the 18th, extending a frustrating run that began with his US Open collapse in June.
Speaking at a Presidents Cup press conference, the world No.1 said: "He didn't lose, he got beat. So that can happen." Scheffler argued that sometimes in golf the breaks go against you, adding: "He has a playoff last week, and a guy eagles the final hole to beat him, and that's kind of a tough deal."
McIlroy had admitted the game is "testing me a little more than it has done in the past" after letting another lead slip at the Irish Open earlier this month. However, Scheffler pointed to his own season, where he has won seven PGA Tour events and Olympic gold, to illustrate how quickly fortunes can change.
"Sometimes it's an important putt or a little break here or there," Scheffler said. "In years past, maybe sometimes those putts went in sometimes, but this year I felt like for the most part I made a lot of those putts when I needed to."
McIlroy will next team up with his father Gerry at the pro-am Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October. Meanwhile, Scheffler is targeting his ninth win of the season at the Presidents Cup.
