Rory McIlroy admitted "the wheels came off" after seeing his bid for a second US Open title fade at Shinnecock Hills, where he finished tied for 32nd at six over par.

The Masters champion was still in with a chance going into the weekend's action at an event that saw Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and J.J. Spaun all miss the cut.

But he carded back-to-back three-over scores of 73 on Saturday and Sunday, with a dismal back nine in the third round – where he posted five bogeys – ultimately costing him.

Wyndham Clark held off Sam Burns for his second triumph at the event, with McIlroy finishing 10 strokes behind the victor.

Reflecting on his performance, McIlroy looked back to the end of Saturday's play as he said: "The wheels came off; I shot myself out of the tournament then.

"I think it [the course] won the battle over me at this point. Looking back on the entire week, I will rue the back nine yesterday.

"You try to come out positive and muster up the energy to put a good one in there, and then after a couple of bogies on the front nine I was trying to race my way to the 18th green."

WYNDHAM GOES WIRE TO WIRE   pic.twitter.com/Pv1FtA5JOM

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 21, 2026

McIlroy will now turn his attention towards the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, which begins on July 16.

He last won that event back in 2014, and he plans to skip the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship and prepare for the fourth major of the year by playing more links courses.

"It's my favourite time of the year to go back home and play the Open and get to spend a bit of time back there," McIlroy added.

"This was not too dissimilar to an Open Championship in how the golf course played over the weekend, but some links golf over the next couple of weeks will be nice."