Rory McIlroy switches focus to Royal Liverpool after suffering yet another Major near-miss

Rory McIlroy suffered another near-miss in a Major on Sunday, finishing second in the US Open, and the Northern Irishman has turned his attention to next month's Open Championship.

McIlroy, who won four Majors from 2011 through 2014, has endured a drought in the biggest tournaments on the calendar since then. Failure to win the Open at Hoylake would mean he would be certain to go more than nine years without Major success.

McIlroy is 8-1 favourite for the Open in the wake of his efforts at Los Angeles Country Club last week. A cold putter on Sunday left him one shot shy of a triumphant Wyndham Clark, who won his first Major title. Clark was a pre-tournament 60-1, while McIlroy was available at 12-1.

McIlroy seems sure to attract huge support for the Open given it will be played at the same venue where he put his name on the Claret Jug in 2014. McIlroy won his only Open at Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, with Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia finishing tied for second place.

McIlroy will be the only course winner in the Open field this year. Tiger Woods won the Open at Royal Liverpool in 2006 but the 47-year-old will be missing next month's event through injury. McIlroy has had 19 top-ten finishes in Majors since he last won one, including three second places.

Clark is 33-1 with bet365 to follow up his US Open victory with Open Championship glory. He went into the final round of the US Open tied for the lead with Fowler, outscoring his playing partner by five shots.

Scottie Scheffler finished third at LACC, continuing his remarkable season of consistency. Scheffler, who has not ended up worse than 12th place in any of his 14 tournaments this year, can be backed at 10-1 for the Open.

Masters champion Jon Rahm, who tied for tenth place in the US Open, is sandwiched in between McIlroy and Scheffler in the Open betting. The final Major of the season starts on July 20.

Clark, McIlroy, Scheffler and Rahm are among those competing in the Travelers Championship this week - a designated PGA Tour event. The DP World Tour staged the BMW International Open, while the LPGA circuit is focused on the Women's PGA Championship.

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