Shane Lowry is raging that there won't be another major chance for nine months after a frustrating week at St Andrews.
Lowry knew he had put himself in the mix to win the Open on Saturday when he had back to back eagles around the turn to get to 9-under par, only to drop four shots on the way in.
Later, he said he was off to the range to find the solution to his putting woes but he didn't find it yesterday as he closed with a two under par 70.
"I feel like it was a tough week," he said. "I’m not that far away.
"It shows me where I am and where my mental stage is at that I’m p***** off at finishing a big tournament like this.
"I would have been happy with that five or six years ago, but not any more.
"I love these weeks. It’s what I play golf for. It’s what I get out of bed in the morning for.
"It’s another eight or nine months until the next one. I’ll be counting down the months until the Masters again."
Lowry finished tied-21 and, after two weeks of rest and seeing family at home, will return to the US looking to make an impact in the final part of the PGA Tour season.
"It's huge," he conceded. "And we’ve some big tournaments in Europe as well.
"I want to get back inside the top 20 in the world, so I’ve that to play for.
"Keep doing what I’m doing, find something on the greens and I’ll be dangerous enough."
Major debutant David Carey was also frustrated that he didn't bring his best game over the final two rounds after impressively making the cut.
"I really don’t think I can hit the ball much worse than I have this weekend," said the Dubliner, who plays on the Alpine Tour.
"My iron play has been really poor all week. If I can make the cut playing bad well you have to think you can do better playing well.
"It’s easy to say that but if I can get myself in these positions more often, golf is really a numbers game. If I can play more events, you have to hit form at some stage and hope to hit form at the right time.
"I'm just disappointed that I didn’t produce more of what I know I can produce. It’s that first step. It’s the first time I’ve got to that level and one that I will learn from.
"It was good to be a part of it. But I am not where I want to be."
Carey's playing partner over his last two rounds was Lee Westwood.
“He’s got a lot of game," said the Englishman. "He hits the ball very well.
"You can see he’s got a lot of talent and he’s not short. Everything is there.
"I would say he's just got to sharpen everything up and work on the mental side a little bit and learn to shake off bad shots.”
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