‘Your caddie on occasions like that can really be the difference’ – Rory McIlroy’s choice of club on 15th hole cost him US Open

The former Qatar Masters and British Masters winner (33) said on The Chipping Forecast podcast that key clubbing mistakes on the 15th and 18th ultimately cost the County Down man the US Open.

“Sometimes, to win a golf tournament, you need to limp over the line, and I’m adamant that it is your caddie on occasions like that can really be the difference that can pull you over that finishing line,” Pepperell said.

“I just think, observing Rory today, that was the big thing that was lacking.”

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While McIlroy’s pulled drives put him in trouble coming down the stretch, Pepperell believes his choice of club on the 205-yard 15th, when he overshot the green into a sandy area and made the first of three bogeys in the last four holes, cost him dear.

Admitting the missed short putts at the 16th and 18th were “the most un-Rory McIlroy-like thing I’ve ever seen”, he pointed to the choice of the club on the 15th and the decision to hit driver rather than an iron or fairway wood at the 449-yard 18th as the key mistakes.

“My immediate takeaway is that with a stronger caddie, he would not have made the bogey he made on the 15th,” Pepperell said.

“It was a poor choice of club, and he hit in the one place he shouldn’t have hit it, and then, and from that point onwards, I think that’s the bogey that changed the momentum and his mindset more than anything.

“He looked so comfortable and in control and he just needed to hit it to the front part of that green on 15. Easier said than done. And I really think he would have walked away with that trophy.”

Conceding that the ultimate responsibility lies with the player, Pepperell added: “A strong caddie, a Stevie Williams-type figure, I’m adamant would have could have just got hold of Rory on 15 and just pulled him through that finish.

“I just think Rory needs somebody who’s capable, like (former caddie) JP (Fitzgerald) probably used to be able to do and help him get across that line.

“That was an inexplicable club decision on 15 and possibly the last too.”