Rahm needed to get into the last pairing and put direct pressure on himself.
Final pairing really uninspiring, they might both play so negative the pack pass them out
Harman will try and par his way around if Rahm gets hot with the putter early he could force the mistakes behind him hopefully.
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Weather doesnât look that severe tomorrow either. If Young was bombing it past him and could get a few birdies early it might rattle him.
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That wedge on 2 could do Harmanâs head in, chasing pack have every chance now to pile on the pressure.
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HOYLAKE, England â Rory McIlroy leaned back, puffed out his cheeks and looked exasperated as his putt skimmed past the hole.
It was just after 5pm (BST) on Sunday, the hole was the 18th, McIlroyâs 72nd of this yearâs Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, but that scene had played out countless times over the last four days.
He posted rounds of 71, 70, 69 and 68 to finish in a tie for sixth with Emiliano Grillo. There were moments of brilliance, disaster, false dawns, grimaces and smiles.
In other words, it was a performance in a major from McIlroy that the sporting world has become accustomed to.
But even on Sunday, as the American, Brian Harman, breezed to a six-shot victory to clinch his first major win, the love for McIlroy remained.
He is magnetic on these shores, and that has been evident since he touched down in Hoylake at the beginning of the week.
McIlroy arrived at Royal Liverpool with a spring in his step on Monday, the day after he lifted the Scottish Open Trophy and won in Scotland for the first time. As he walked towards the playersâ clubhouse, it did not take long for supporters to notice him and cries of âRoryâ soon bellowed out from the younger generation, desperate for him to sign something.
There was a practice round in the afternoon with Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open Championship winner, and Padraig Harrington, a two-time victor of this major. The trio were jovial, with Lowry responding to someone asking whether they had a tee time by saying, âWeâve got four Claret Jugs here, ladsâ.
âRory has a little bit of an advantage in that some of the trouble he can carry,â Harrington observed afterwards. âHe always has a driving advantage and will clearly lead strokes gained off the tee as he does every week.
âBut I donât know if this golf course is the one that gives him an incredible advantage.â
Shortly after 7am (BST) on Tuesday, with adverse weather conditions forecast for later in the day, McIlroy was due to begin another practice round with Lowry off the first tee. News travels fast at Royal Liverpool and word quickly spread that he had instead chosen to start on the third.
When McIlrory moves, a crowd follows, and if you were not following his group and were venturing elsewhere, you could have been forgiven for thinking the course had been evacuated. Everyone else was following McIlroy, eager to get a glimpse of golfâs superstar and flagbearer.
The 34-year-old wanted to keep a low profile, but that was not going to be possible. He cancelled his press conference on Tuesday â as he did ahead of the U.S. Open in June.
Even Rory McIlroyâs practice rounds drew the largest crowds of the week. (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
His round with Lowry was a mixed bag; some great shots, a few missed putts but the spring in his step remained. He was buoyant.
A crowd of a couple hundred at 7am had grown into four figures before McIlroy and Lowry reached the 18th. But as the weather made a turn for the worse, their round was over and the day was done.
He returned to the course on Wednesday morning, under the Hoylake sun, Nike cap on backwards. The spring in his step was still there. He did not leave the playersâ clubhouse until around 12.45pm, with his caddy, Harry Diamond, waiting for him on the chipping green.
McIlroy had mixed results playing out of the pothole bunkers, but soon headed out for another practice round. This time he played with Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton. As the afternoon sun, partnered with a gentle breeze, baked Royal Liverpool, the following the fourball accumulated looked bigger than any crowd at Juneâs U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club.
And as they stood on the 18th tee, McIlroy hit an iron and a driver, looking to avoid the internal out of bounds down the right.
The grandstand rose to their feet, chanting his name, and McIlroy responded by throwing his two balls into the crowd before giving them a wave and disappearing until Thursday afternoon.
Partnered with Spaniard Jon Rahm and Englishman Justin Rose, the gallery following McIlroyâs first round on Thursday was always going to be the biggest of the day. As the Northern Irishman walked out onto the first tee box shortly before 3pm, the grandstand erupted.
It was a scene of hope. Hope that this would be the major win he has been searching for since 2014, coming increasingly and agonizingly close in recent years, including 2022 at St. Andrews and last month in LA. Hope that the supporters in attendance, feverish in their admiration for McIlroy, had picked the right day to come and watch.
And as he marched back down the second hole, the grandstand, which was packed to the rafters only 15 minutes earlier, had emptied. They joined the gallery and followed him for the next five-and-a-half hours.
The birdie on the second kick-started his round but, as can often be the case with McIlroy, it was not a straightforward afternoon. When he looked as though the bit was between his teeth, a skewed shot or missed putt would follow.
Shouts of, âCome on, Rory!â followed him around Royal Liverpool, but so did the groans when a putt skimmed the hole and stayed out.
By the time he reached the 14th hole, he was 2-over par. But then he drained a long putt for birdie. There was no celebration or pump of the chest. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief and acknowledged the gallery.
He birdied the next and remained even par until the final hole, where he produced a piece of magic that those who had followed him for the afternoon were desperate to see.
Failing to get out of the bunker at the first attempt, he stood on one leg and rested his knee on the floor, the grandstand silent in anticipation.
He swung, the ball popped out and rolled to 10ft away from the pin. He holed the par putt, and the noiseless gallery exploded in unison. The rollercoaster was over, and this time he pumped his chest.
That verve continued on Friday morning, where, again, he was a magnet to the gallery. A birdie on the first was greeted by a seismic roar. But it soon dissipated as he battled to a 1-under round.
It was a day of blowing winds, missed putts and, at times, frustration. On the fifth hole, a difficult par 5, he had to ask the supporters and media to step back and stop walking. His tee shot, a thumping drive, split the fairway and a birdie followed.
Another flashpoint came on the 12th hole, where he had a short putt for birdie and needed to step away from the ball. The gallery was asked to stop moving. McIlroy missed the putt before walking off shaking his head.
There was a smile etched on his face, yet it was one of anger rather than glee. His following, the largest on the course, stayed with him until the end. They were repaid when, finally, he made a short putt on 18 for birdie.
By this point, McIlroy was nine shots off the lead. Importantly, though, he had made the cut and felt optimistic about chasing down Harman.
âRight now itâs not quite out of my hands, but at the same time, I think if I can get to 3-, 4-, 5-under-par going into Sunday, Iâll have a really good chance,â he said.
Rahm, his playing partner over the first two days, showed what was possible on Saturday, posting an 8-under 63 to record his lowest-ever round in a major, vaulting himself into contention. The conditions, which were supposed to be treacherous, were instead almost perfect. There was little wind and only the odd shower to contend with. The players wore short sleeves.
McIlroy birdied three of his first five holes, and while conservative off the tee, often taking a driving iron, he was aggressive from the fairway. Those early shots were dialed in at the pins.
The hope that existed on Thursday reached new heights over the first hour of his third round. If Rahm could go low, McIlroy was about to go lower. But it was an all too crushing familiar story.
His putter, which is so often his downfall, failed to even become lukewarm, and with each miss, the energy sapped out of him and the gallery. The moments of eruption from the crowd had now become quiet ripples of applause. One spectator jokingly jeered McIlroy when he pulled out a driving iron on the 10th tee box.
They knew there was not going to be a charge to the top of the leaderboard. He had 32 putts on Saturday, missing all of the mid-range ones to spoil birdie chances. He gained 0.24 strokes putting this week, 56th in the field. He was equally average around the greens, relying on his driver and irons to keep him in it.
Late on Saturday afternoon, and with his chances of contending on Sunday all but over, the gallery had started to shrink. They went to watch local hero Tommy Fleetwood instead.
The chance to go low was there on Saturday but Rory McIlroy could not, shooting a 69. (Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images)
Just as he did on Tuesday, McIlroy did not speak to the media after completing his third round. Has the person who has had to do all the talking over the last year become sick of hearing his own voice? You could not blame him if that is the case.
McIlroy was here to win, not talk. The only issue is that his golf did not have much to say.
A smile had returned for his afternoon tee time on Sunday. When he walked onto the first, he was jovial and could not contain his grin. The gallery, hidden by a sea of umbrellas, turned out for him again.
And just as he did on Saturday, he birdied three of the first five holes. But did anyone really believe he could challenge Harman? The noise, which echoed around Royal Liverpool when each putt dropped, suggested they did.
One youngster, who had waited several hours to catch a glimpse of his idol on the fifth tee box, certainly thought he could. To tell him what has happened on several occasions at the majors over the past nine years would have been cruel.
As McIlroy strode down the 15th, fresh from making a birdie on the previous hole, someone in the gallery shouted out, âThis is your house, Rory!â. Only it wasnât. It was in 2014, but in 2023, it belongs to Harman.
By the time he had reached his 72nd hole, there was not going to be a crowning moment. Everyone knew it. And shortly after 5.10pm (BST), he sunk a par-putt to end his best round of the week, acknowledged the crowd one final time and went to hand in his scorecard.
Following his round on Sunday, McIlroy appeared sanguine about going into his 10th year without winning a major, pointing out there is still plenty to play for before 2023 is over.
âI canât sit here and be too frustrated,â McIlroy, who has finished in the top 10 seven times in his last eight majors, said. âIf you think about my performances in the majors between 2016 and 2019, it (his game) is a lot better than that.
âI donât think (about going into his 10th year without a major win) that way. I think about trying to go and win a fourth FedEx Cup here in a couple weeksâ time, go try and win a fifth Race to Dubai, go and win a fifth Ryder Cup. I just keep looking forward.â
As he left the mixed zone area and walked to the playersâ clubhouse one final time, there were still shouts of, âRory ladâ. He will have lost count of how many times he has heard that phrase since he arrived at Royal Liverpool on Monday.
But there is one thing the gallery had to be reminded of with McIlroyâŚ
It is the hope that kills you.
(Top photo: Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images)
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Playoff for Harrington in the British Senior Open
Some weather to be playing in. Pure misery.
Heâll only love that though
Looks comfortable
They could be here all night
First one to make a putt wins
Youâll need an eagle to win this out Iâd say.
Harrington must have the most Irish walk of all time.
+5 the best scores. Montie took 88 shots to get around 
YE Yang shot 71 today
I had a chuckle when I saw that the fat cunt hit 88
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Advantage Cejka here
Balls 
6 clear 