- WHO to evacuate 1,000 Gazan women, children for urgent medical care
- Israel bombs Hezbollah-linked finance group in Lebanon
- Erdogan's rival Fetullah Gulen dies in exile aged 83
- Gauff-led USA pitted with Canada at season-opening United Cup
- Cuban leader warns against unrest over nationwide blackout
- Asian markets mixed as traders digest China rate cut
- Sanofi pursues sale of painkiller after political controversy
- Trump heads to hurricane-hit N. Carolina, Harris in swing state push
- Rabada takes 300th wicket as Bangladesh stumble to 60-6 at lunch
- Alpacas, hecklers and climate warnings: King Charles visits Australia's capital
- Moldova EU vote too close to call, president blames 'foreign interference'
- Sartorially suave alpaca sneezes on King Charles
- In a first, France welcomes Russian army deserters
- Storm Oscar hits eastern Cuba as island grapples with blackout
- New Zealand basks in 'golden 48 hours' after sporting triumphs
- UN biodiversity summit opens with call for 'significant' funding
- Dodgers beat Mets to set World Series showdown with Yankees
- Liberty rally to top Lynx in overtime for WNBA title
- US, Canada warships pass through Taiwan Strait
- Asian markets fluctuate as traders digest China rate cut
- Naomi Osaka season over because of injury
- Toll from attack in India-controlled Kashmir rises to seven: reports
- Simmering Bellingham set for Dortmund reunion in Champions League
- World Cup winner Kerr thanks 'grandmas' for T20 inspiration
- Dortmund identity crisis ahead of European rematch with Real Madrid
- China's central bank cuts two key rates to boost economy
- BHP goes on trial in London over 2015 toxic Brazil mine disaster
- Pakistan passes constitutional amendments aimed at courts
- Fungi finding: mushroom hunters seek new species and recognition
- Beware: US election disinformation masked as 'breaking news'
- Celtics seek repeat, Lebron and son unite as NBA season opens
- Poston holds off Ghim for PGA Tour triumph in Las Vegas
- Unbeaten Chiefs march past 49ers, Lions hand Vikings first loss
- Moldova president blames interference for potential EU referendum loss
- King Charles to spotlight conflict, climate in Australian capital
- UN chief seeks 'significant' funding at summit to save nature
- Hurricane Oscar makes landfall in Cuba amid huge power outage
- McLaren blast 'inappropriate' penalty as Norris F1 title hopes hit
- La Rochelle bounce back against Bordeaux-Begles
- Lethal Lewandowski helps Barca rout Sevilla, Atletico triumph
- Leclerc wins US Grand Prix as Norris, Verstappen clash
- Moldovans vote 'no' in referendum on joining EU: partial results
- Lewandowski powers five-star Barca to Sevilla rout
- Lions hand Vikings first loss, Packers down Texans
- In escalation, Israel bombs Hezbollah-linked finance group
- Martinez keeps Inter on Napoli's tail with Roma winner
- Marseille return to form with Montpellier thrashing
- Lula cancels trip to summit in Russia after injuring head
- Cuba girds for Hurricane Oscar with electricity supply still down
- Harris celebrates birthday at Georgia churches as Trump serves McDonald's
McIlroy silence speaks volumes after US Open collapse
Rory McIlroy's $2.3 million US Open runner-up check will be small consolation for the four-time major winner after a late-round collapse Sunday kept him from snapping a 10-year major win drought.
The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland declined to speak with reporters after faltering in the final round at Pinehurst, making three bogeys in the last four holes and helping hand the victory to Bryson DeChambeau.
McIlroy's silence spoke volumes about the agonising nature of a defeat which saw him lead by two strokes with five holes to play, only to have the long-sought trophy slip through his fingers.
McIlroy instead settled for his 21st top-10 major finish since last winning a major at the 2014 PGA Championship.
After a bogey at the par-3 15th cut his lead to one, McIlroy lipped out on a par putt from 2.5 feet at the par-4 16th to leave him level with DeChambeau in a battle of golf juggernauts on one of golf's most pressure-packed stages.
Still deadlocked at the par-4 18th, McIlroy missed a putt from just inside four feet for a bogey that dropped him one behind DeChambeau.
The missed putts were McIlroy's first from inside of five feet in the round.
DeChambeau needed to par the last to win and was in the dirt and weeds left, but he wedged into a greenside bunker then blasted to four feet and, in contrast to McIlroy, made his clutch putt for the triumph.
Television cameras captured McIlroy watching as DeChambeau sank the winning putt.
As the crowd roared and DeChambeau began to celebrate, McIlroy stared ahead for a few seconds then turned and walked away with caddie Harry Diamond.
They were seen a few minutes later entering the Pinehurst parking lot, packing bags into a car and driving away.
It looked like the sort of defeat that can haunt a player, an epic failure on the level of Greg Norman's final-round flop in a 1996 Masters loss to Nick Faldo.
McIlroy even spoke to reporters at the PGA Championship last month a day after his divorce plans were made public. McIlroy said this week those plans are off.
It was left to DeChambeau to bolster McIlroy in the runner-up's absence.
"Rory is one of the best to ever play," DeChambeau said. "Being able to fight against a great like that is pretty special. For him to miss that (last) putt, I'd never wish it on anybody. It just happened to play out that way.
"He'll win multiple more major championships. There's no doubt. I think that fire in him is going to continue to grow."
DeChambeau also admitted some intimidation at falling behind McIlroy so late.
"I have nothing but respect for how he plays the game of golf because, to be honest, when he was climbing up the leaderboard, he was two ahead, I was like, 'Uh-oh, uh-oh,'" he said.
"But luckily things went my way today."
- 'We're all human' -
France's Matthieu Pavon, who played alongside DeChambeau and finished fifth, addressed the pressure McIlroy, or any player in his situation, would feel in that supreme tension-packed moment.
"At the end of the day we're all human," Pavon said. "Rory has been chasing another major since many years. He is one of the best players in the world, a true champion. It shows you how tough it is.
"The more you want it, the tougher it gets, and the highest expectation you have for yourself, the tougher it gets, the more pressure you got into.
"Maybe this is a little bit of pressure that got him today for sure, but Rory is just a massive champion. I'm sure he will fight back and really soon."
O.M.Souza--AMWN