Reince Priebus, who previously served as White House Chief of Staff under Donald Trump, took a dig at McIlroy’s performance at the US Open without any prompt.

Rory McIlroy unexpectedly became the butt of a joke from an American politician on live television just before the upcoming US election (Image: (Image: GETTY))

Rory McIlroy unexpectedly became the butt of a joke from an American politician on live television just before the upcoming US election. Reince Priebus, who previously served as White House Chief of Staff under Donald Trump, took a dig at McIlroy’s performance at the US Open without any prompt.

While on ABC talking about Kamala Harris, who is set to challenge Trump in the polls, Priebus compared her to McIlroy to make a point that Harris had faltered when discussing her political goals on another ABC show. “She wanted to clarify the two most important issues that are facing these two candidates, the economy and immigration,” Priebus remarked.

“And she bombed like Rory at the US Open.”

He was referring, of course, to McIlroy’s missed opportunity for triumph at Pinehurst earlier in the year. With a lead of two strokes and just five holes remaining, the 35-year-old ended up making three bogeys, which enabled Bryson DeChambeau to overtake him at the crucial moment.

McIlroy faltered twice on par putts within four feet, effectively unraveling his quest for victory after he had managed to overturn a three-shot deficit from the day before. He left the green in dismay as he watched DeChambeau sink the decisive putt, departing briskly without offering congratulations to his opponent, reports the Express.

McIlroy threw away a golden chance of victory at the US Open earlier this year (Image: (Image: GETTY))
On reflection, while acknowledging the sting of the final round, McIlroy admitted but also noted post-event realizations of improvement: “I did things on that Sunday that I haven’t been able to do in the last couple years,” he claimed in July. “I took control of the golf tournament, held putts when I needed to. Well, mostly when I needed to. Made birdies, you know, really got myself in there.

“And then, look, obviously unfortunately to miss those last two putts, or the putt on 16 and obviously the putt on 18. Yeah, it was a tough day and it was a tough few days after that, obviously.

“But I think as you get further away from it happening, you start to see the positives and you start to see all the good things that you did throughout the week. There’s learnings in there, too, right?. I can vividly remember starting to feel a little uncomfortable waiting for my second putt on 16, and you know, the putt on the last, it was a really tricky putt, and I was very aware of where Bryson was off the tee. I knew I had to hit it really soft.

“If the one back didn’t matter, I would have hit it firmer, but I was sort of in two minds. I didn’t know whether Bryson was going to make a par or not.”