Rory McIlroy sends message to fans after "experience I will never forget"
The Holywood man finished tied for seventh place as world number one Scottie Scheffler cruised to victory to win his fourth major.
"Thank you to all the fans for your incredible support at Portrush this past week," McIlroy wrote on Instagram. "Playing in front of the home crowd was an experience I will never forget. A special thank you to the staff at @dunlucelodge for their world class hospitality."
McIlroy will now reset his focus and his schedule in order to be on top form for Europe's defence of the Ryder Cup in September.
'I feel like being back in Europe for a bit was a nice reset,' said McIlroy after The Open.
'I feel like I'm getting back to where I want to be and we've still got a lot of golf left this year with obviously Ryder Cup being the big one in there in September.
'I don't want to play too much leading up to that because I want to be fresh so I'm looking forward to a few weeks off here.
'I'll reflect on what's been already a good year and start to get myself ready for that run up to the Ryder Cup.'
He added: 'All I can do is focus on myself and try to play the best golf that I can. I know that, when I do that, I'll have my weeks where I'll contend and hopefully win.
'I've gotten everything I wanted out of this week apart from a Claret Jug and that's just because one person was just a little bit better than the rest of us.'
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