SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. -- Six-time major winner Rory McIlroy fared better than several other fellow past U.S. Open champions this week, with Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and J.J. Spaun all missing the cut.
But a rough weekend kept McIlroy from challenging for the lead at the tournament he won 15 years ago. He shot 73 on Sunday after posting the same score in the third round Saturday to finish at 6 over, tied for 32nd place.
McIlroy blamed his back nine Saturday after getting to 2 under.
"The wheels came off," McIlroy said. "I sort of shot myself out of the tournament then."
The 37-year-old is skipping the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship next week outside Hartford, Connecticut, and has a different plan to prepare to play in the Open Championship in July.
"I'll be playing some links golf this week probably coming up," McIlroy said. "It's my favorite time of the year to go back home and play, play the Open, and I get to spend a bit of time back there."
McIlroy, who is from Northern Ireland, won the Open Championship in 2014 and has been close to a second title there a few times. The style of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club provided some level of preparation for his next major.
"This was not too dissimilar to an Open Championship in terms of how the golf course started to play over the weekend," McIlroy said.