Rory McIlroy shot a 67 in the fourth round at the Genesis Invitational, but it was not enough to get the win. Jacob Bridgeman won the event, one stroke in front of Kurt Kitayama and McIlroy.
McIlroy struggled to make a charge on the front nine and kept coming up short. This resulted in him being asked if it was cruel to see his final putt on 18 drop after so many shots missed. He dropped a truth bomb response, according to Christopher Powers of Golf Digest.
“No, not really,” McIlroy said. “It probably earned me an extra 400, 500 grand so it's fine.”
It ended up being a $600 thousand putt for McIlroy, bringing his total winnings in the event to $1.8 million. While the five-time major champion was happy with the extra cash, he had some critical thoughts on the rest of his performance.
“I just kept plugging away and trying to make something happen. I felt like I could have made something happen on the front nine if I holed a few putts but I didn't,” McIlroy said after the round. “It's hard. I think sometimes it's harder when like Jacob has a big lead and I'm not doing anything to put pressure on him so he sees that. I've had this before when I had a big lead and the guy that's playing with me isn't putting pressure on and then the guys in front are.”
While not thrilled with his performance, he was impressed by Bridgeman. The 26-year old American has never won on the PGA tour, but did have a runner-up finish in 2025 at the Cognizant Classic.
“I thought he handled everything really well,” McIlroy said. “But it's hard, it's hard to close out big tournaments. Even though he was a little shaky coming down the stretch, he held it together when he needed to. He holed a clutch comeback putt on 13 for par, he played smart on 16 when he missed it in the bunker. That putt on the last isn't easy. Leaves it a little bit short and the crowd reacts and you've got to take your time a little bit. I give him all the props, he did what he needed to do and I'm happy for him.”
McIlroy will not be returning to the course this weekend, instead focusing on his Masters preparation. Meanwhile, Bridgeman, the 2025 runner-up at the event, is set to participate in the event, beginning Thursday.
