Rory McIlroy is making no apologies for savoring the biggest accomplishment of his career, but insists Oakmont Country Club has his full attention this week.
Since claiming his first Masters title in dramatic fashion in April, McIlroy’s form has fallen off precipitously. After a tie for seventh at the Truist Championship, he tied for 47th at the PGA Championship before missing the cut by 12 shots last week in Canada, where he finished better than only four players.
“You dream about the final putt going in at the Masters, but you don’t think about what comes next,” McIlroy said on Tuesday ahead of this week’s U.S. Open outside of Pittsburgh. “I think chasing a certain goal for the better part of a decade and a half, I think I’m allowed a little bit of time to relax a little bit. But here at Oakmont, I certainly can’t relax this week.”
McIlroy missed the cut by two shots the last time the U.S. Open was contested at Oakmont in 2016, carding a 77 and a 71 to finish 8 over.
“Don’t really remember much about 2016. I think I just tried to erase it from the memory bank,” he joked.
McIlroy called Oakmont “a big brute of a golf course” that will test every club in the bag.
The club with the biggest question in McIlroy’s bag has been his driver. After driving it “OK” in his words at Augusta, McIlroy struggled mightily off the tee at the PGA Championship after having to make a switch after his driver failed a pre-tournament inspection.
Despite missing the cut in Canada, McIlroy said he has made progress with a new driver while playing at home and during Tuesday’s practice round.
“Hopefully I can hit a few more fairways than I have been hitting and give myself some opportunities,” he said. “It’s very penal if you miss. Sometimes it’s penal if you don’t miss.
“But the person with the most patience and the best attitude this week is the one that’s going to win.”
With his Masters victory, McIlroy accomplished the career Grand Slam at 36 years old. His lone U.S. Open victory came 14 years ago at Congressional. The Northern Irishman was asked the biggest challenge he’s facing as he attempts to reset from the high of Augusta.
“I think it’s trying to have a little bit of amnesia and forget about what happened six weeks ago. Then just trying to find the motivation to go back out there and work as hard as I’ve been working,” he said.
“At some point, you have to realize that there’s a little bit more golf left to play this season, here, (the Open Championship at) Portrush, Ryder Cup. So, those are obviously the three big things that I’m sort of looking at for the rest of the year.
“But I think weeks like (the PGA at) Quail Hollow or even weeks like last week, it makes it easier to reset in some way, to be like, OK, I sort of need to get my stuff together here and get back to the process.”
Many speculated that finally claiming his first Masters would free McIlroy to reel off several more majors. But even if that doesn’t happen this week — or ever again — McIlroy plans to enjoy this stage of his life. One that includes playing more tennis with friends on the road, less concerned about suffering an injury that impacts his golf game, and traveling the world with his daughter, Poppy.
“I worked incredibly hard on my game from October last year all the way up until April this year. It was nice to sort of see the fruits of my labor come to fruition and have everything happen,” McIlroy said.
“But at the same time, you have to enjoy that. You have to enjoy what you’ve just accomplished. I certainly feel like I’m still doing that and I will continue to do that.”
–Field Level Media
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