Rory McIlroy talks for first time on how he dealt with US Open choke

Rory McIlroy is ready to put the US Open disaster behind him.

McIlroy spoke at length for the first time Wednesday on how he dealt with the disappointment of missing two short putts in the final three holes that cost him the win at Pinehurst and his first major in a decade.

“(The days have) been OK. I got over it pretty quickly,” McIlroy told SkySports. “The few days after were pretty tough at times. But I feel like I’ve done a good job of thinking about it rationally and constructively and taking what I need from it and trying to learn from it.

“For the most part, it was a great day. I keep telling people, it was a great day until it wasn’t. There were a couple of little things I’d like to have back at the end there. Overall, I can’t fault how I played or the gameplan that I had or how I handled myself the whole way through the tournament.”

McIlroy dueled with Bryson DeChambeau on the Sunday of the US Open, with the lead shifting back and forth over the course of a dramatic final round.

But McIlroy had seemed to take control and owned a two-shot lead in the latter portions before missing a pair of short par putts on 16 and 18 that opened the door for DeChambeau’s victory.

“I can vividly remember starting to feel a little uncomfortable waiting for my second putt on 16 and the putt on the last was a really tricky putt and I was very aware where Bryson was off the tee,” McIlroy told reporters. “I knew I had to hit it very soft. If the one back didn’t matter I would have hit it firmer but because I was sort of two minds — I didn’t know if Bryson was going to make a par or not — it was one of those ones where I just had to make sure if the putt didn’t go in it didn’t go 10 feet by, which it very easily could have. Thinking back, I think I was probably a little too aware of where Bryson was and what he was doing.”

McIlroy stormed off the North Carolina facility after DeChambeau made a tremendous up-and-down on the final hole to seal a one-shot win.

The 35-year-old then announced in a statement he would be taking a few weeks away from the sport.

McIlroy makes his return Thursday as he defends his Scottish Open title and next week is the season’s final major with the British Open at Troon.

“Nice to get back on the golf course and play this week and two good opportunities to get back where I need to be — and Troon next week as well,” McIlroy said.

The Northern Irishman was photographed with his wife, Erica Stoll, and 3-year-old daughter, Poppy, enjoying time away from the course after reconciling his marriage.

McIlroy was asked about the support has he has received since the disappointment.

“A lot of people reached out which was really, really nice. From within golf, from outside golf and other sports,” McIlroy said. “Just having the support of my friends and my family. I feel like I’ve surrounded myself with really good people. Sometimes you take that for granted and you feel like that you don’t really need that all the time, but then in tough moments like the Sunday in Pinehurst it makes you really appreciate that.”