Ryder Cup 2018: Rory McIlroy suffers horror 18th hole meltdown in singles defeat to Justin Thomas
McIlroy was plugged in the bunker with the ball above his feet for his second shot and then hit it into the water to lose one down
RORY McILROY suffered a horror 18th hole meltdown in his crushing singles defeat to Justin Thomas.
The European superstar was sent out first by skipper Thomas Bjorn with the task of leading the charge.
He stood on the 18th tee all square with his rival only to push his tee shot right into a bunker with a three-wood.
The ball was plugged in the face, forcing four-time Major champion McIlroy into a difficult stance with the ball way above his feet.
All he could do was hit out onto the fairway but he failed to make a good contact and the ball rolled down into the middle of the trap.
With Thomas sitting pretty after a sparking drive, McIlroy knew he needed something spectacular to make the green.
He took out a seven-iron but caught the ball too cleanly and sent it trundling into the lake.
After that, former US PGA champion Thomas hit his second shot safely into the heart of the green.
Playing five, McIlroy then needed to hole his wedge shot from around 100 yards to have any hope but went nowhere near.
They shook hands in the fairway, leading to a one up win for Thomas - the only other time he had held the lead in the match was after the first hole.
Latest Ryder Cup news
RYDER CUP LIVE Follow all the action and scores with our brilliant live Ryder Cup blog
Thomas said: "It was an extremely unfitting way for that match to end.
" I am very happy to get a point but I didn't want to get it like that.
"I told Rory I have looked up to him for a long time and always respected the way he treated me, so it was cool to go out against him."