AR
Rory McIlroy reiterated on Sunday after an encouraging closing 67 at Oakmont Country Club that his mental head space still isn’t quite right. But he knows just where that might finally change, and it isn’t likely to be at the upcoming Travelers Championship.
A return to Portrush, Northern Ireland, for The Open Championship should do the trick.
“Look, if I can’t get motivated to get up for an Open Championship at home, then I don’t know what can motivate me,” the Masters champion said after his three-under-par effort in the U.S. Open left him at seven-over 287 for the week. “Yeah, as I said, I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind. I probably haven’t been there the last few weeks. Getting home and having a couple weeks off before that, hopefully feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, will get me in the right place again.”
It’s been an odd few months since the Masters for McIlroy, 36, punctuated by fits of frustration at Oakmont. On Friday his emotions got the best of him as he tomahawked a club on the 12th hole and smashed a tee marker at 17. He had another mini club toss on Sunday when he flipped a wedge at his bag and then caught it nonchalantly when it bounced right back to him.
He finally granted interviews—grudgingly it appeared—the past two days after declining media requests after the previous six major championship rounds.
But he appeared buoyed by the prospect of going home and competing in his second British Open at his home course, Royal Portrush, where he missed the cut in 2019.
“I’m looking forward to just getting back to Europe in general,” McIlroy, ranked No. 2 in the world, said. “Yeah, we’ve got a lot to look forward to—got our new house in London, play the Scottish [Open] and then, obviously, the Open at Portrush.
“Just trying to get myself in the right frame of mind to approach that. I feel like playing an Open at Portrush already and sort of at least remembering what those feelings were like and those feelings that I was probably unprepared for at the time. Obviously it will be my first time sort of in public back home after winning the Masters. … It will be amazing to go home and play in that atmosphere and see a lot of people that I still haven’t seen yet.”
Sunday’s 67 was McIlroy’s lowest in six tours of Oakmont (having missed the cut in 2016) and his 10th card of 67 or better in the U.S. Open, breaking a tie with Louis Oosthuizen for the most in the championship’s history. He had his best driving performance this week, finding 11 of 14 fairways. McIlroy He gained more than two strokes off the tee, and he led the field in driving distance for the week—a welcome development after he had struggled since being forced to find a new driver when his primary club was ruled nonconforming at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.
Not that he wanted to use that as an excuse.
“Really encouraged with the driver and how I drove it as well,” McIlroy said. “It’s not necessarily the driver, it’s more me and sort of where my swing was. I feel like I got a really good feeling in my swing with the driver, which was great. Hopefully I can continue that on into next week. Yeah, it’s close. Physically I feel like my game’s there. It’s just mentally getting myself in the right frame of mind to get the best out of myself.”
The promise of Portrush could mark the reemergence of the player who just completed the career Grand Slam.
“I climbed my Everest in April, and I think after you do something like that, you’ve got to make your way back down, and you’ve got to look for another mountain to climb. An Open at Portrush is certainly one of those,” he said.
“Hopefully I can celebrate with them [his countrymen] on Sunday night with the claret jug and the green jacket.”
Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media
Main Image: Icon Sportswire
