By Matt Smith
Rory McIlroy has revealed his regrets over his failure to build on a blistering start to fade from PGA Championship contention at Southern Hills last week.

The Northern Irishman opened with a five-under 65 on Thursday, but he could not capitalise on that one-stroke lead and eventually finished eighth — after two costly rounds on Friday and Saturday.

“Regrets? Yeah I regret I didn’t take advantage of the benign conditions on Friday,” he told the Irish Independent.

“I regret the big numbers I made on the par threes on Saturday.”

McIlroy shot 71 on Friday and a horrendous 74 on Saturday to leave him nine strokes off the lead and out of contention.

“I have to take the positives — and the fact that eighth place in a Major is absolutely the worst I feel I could’ve finished last week,” he said. “I just have to stay as patient as possible. I know that if I keep playing the golf that I’m playing the chances are going to present themselves.

“I’m going to give myself a few more chances this year, not just to win Majors but to win golf tournaments in general.”

McIlroy will play the US Open at Brookline from June 16-19 but will miss the Irish Open at Mount Juliet, opting to play links golf instead ahead of the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews.

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