Rory McIlroy fails to land third successive Canadian Open as he posts level par final round

McIlroy's third-round 66 left him two shots behind the then-leader CT Pan and in a tie for second heading into the final day.

However, McIlroy failed to get any momentum as back-to-back bogeys on 5 and 6 saw him drift further away from the top.

The 34-year-old managed to get his first birdie of the day on 12 and followed that up by gaining another stroke on 16.

Despite being bullish heading into the final day, McIlroy couldn’t get a run of birdies going as he never truly troubled the leaderboard.

McIlroy lifted the Canadian Open in 2019 and in 2022 but there would be no three-peat as he finished six shots off the lead.

​The title would be a play-off between Canada’s Nick Taylor and England’s Tommy Fleetwood which would go down to the fourth extra hole.

A 72 foot putt would do the deal for Taylor as Fleetwood’s wait for a first win on the PGA Tour continues.

Next up for McIlroy is the third major of the year as the Los Angeles Country Club plays host to the US Open.

The 7,423-yard, par-70 layout includes a 623-yard par five and two of its five par threes measure 284 and 290 yards, although the shortest hole on the course will not exactly be a walk in the park either.

The North Course did also host the Walker Cup in 2017 as a United States team featuring current world number one Scottie Scheffler, two-time major champion Collin Morikawa and PGA Tour winner Will Zalatoris thrashed Great Britain and Ireland 19-7.

After McIlroy’s build-up to the Canadian Open saw him fielding questions about the shock merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the four-time major winner plans to concentrate on what he can control on the golf course.

“At the end of the day, this is business and my job is playing golf,” said McIlroy. “The more that I can focus on that and focus on the birdies and the bogeys instead of the stuff that’s happened in the boardroom, I’ll be much happier.”