Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts after missing a putt on the 18th hole during the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament Sunday, June 16, 2024, in Pinehurst, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt York)

ROYAL TROON, Scotland (AP) — Rory McIlroy sees the British Open as little more than the next opportunity to end 10 years without a major, not atonement for his late collapse in the U.S. Open.

It’s the last opportunity this year, not only for the hard-luck McIlroy but everyone else who earned a spot at Royal Troon, the links course along the Ayrshire coast of Scotland that first hosted golf’s oldest championship a century ago.

For Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau, it’s a chance to join five other players in the last 25 years who have won two majors or more in the same season. For Patrick Cantlay and Tommy Fleetwood, it’s a chance to get their first one.

And when another name is engraved onto the silver base of the claret jug, and the R&A introduces “the champion golfer of the year,” it will be 263 days until the next major.

So much anticipation for the Masters when the major championship began in April. So much desperation just three months later.

“It’s hard to explain and it sounds negative, but it’s like, ‘If I don’t win this, it’s another year without a major.’ It’s just the unfortunate reality,” Justin Thomas said. “We only get four tries in a year. And then once it’s done, all right, got to wait until next year.”

Justin Rose won his first major at Merion in the 2013 U.S. Open and it only gave him stronger belief that he could pick up another by the end of the year. What impressed him was Phil Mickelson losing the 54-hole lead at Merion — his sixth runner-up at the only major he never won — and then winning the claret jug a month later.

“To turn yourself around quite quickly within that month takes a fair effort,” Rose said.

So where does that leave McIlroy?

He has been stung before in the majors, as long as 13 years ago when he lost a four-shot lead in the Masters, as recently as two years ago when he shared the 54-hole lead at St. Andrews only to two-putt every green in the final round.

The finish at Pinehurst No. 2 was harsh. Leading with three holes to play, he missed two par putts so close he could practically see the bottom of the cup and finished one shot behind Bryson DeChambeau.

He wound up with the silver medal. It should have been a purple heart.

“It will be hard, for sure,” Rose said. “But I think he’s probably got the bit between the teeth. I’ve always felt that way about Rory. When he gets criticized, when people start to doubt him, that’s when he starts to play his best.”