Rory McIlroy was far from bullish when asked about his preparations heading into the US Open.
The Northern Irishman says he is trying “to get his stuff together” following a difficult run of form since his Masters triumph.
McIlroy had to wait 11 years before adding to his major collection and completing the illustrious Grand Slam in the process.
He has since struggled for motivation, and that has unsurprisingly reflected on his recent performances.
McIlroy embarrassingly finished 149th out of 153 at the Canadian Open last week. He shot nine-over following erratic Thursday and Friday performances.
The 36-year-old also failed to challenge at the PGA Championship and was tied for 47th, 14 shots behind winner Scottie Scheffler.
McIlroy, who is paired with best mate Shane Lowry at Oakmont, has been trying to find the balance between celebrating his success and working to regain his motivation.
US Open is one of three big events Rory McIlroy is focusing on
Speaking to reporters following Tuesday’s practice round, he said: “Look, you dream about the final putt going in at the Masters, but you don’t think about what comes next.
“I’ve always been a player who struggles to play after a big event, after I win whatever tournament.
“I always struggle to show up with motivation the next week because you’ve just accomplished something and you want to enjoy it and you want to sort of relish the fact that you’ve achieved a goal.
“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.
“I think it’s trying to have a little bit of amnesia and forget about what happened six weeks ago.”
McIlroy, who can be backed to triumph at the US Open with best bets, added: “Then just trying to find the motivation to go back out there and work as hard as I’ve been working.
“But at the same time, 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.
“At some point, you have to realise that there’s a little bit more golf left to play this season: here, Portrush (the Open), Ryder Cup, so those are obviously the three big things that I’m sort of looking at for the rest of the year.
“I sort of need to get my stuff together here and get back to the process of what I’d been doing for those seven months from October last year until April this year.”
Struggles in the practice round
McIlroy admitted he shot 81, which is 11-over par, having ventured to Pennsylvania for a practice round last week at Oakmont.
It’s a notoriously difficult course with the thick rough, unforgiving for players who are wayward off the tee.
In 2016, the last time Oakmont hosted the US Open, just four players shot under par.
Providing his verdict on the course, McIlroy said: “They had the pins in dicey locations, and greens were running at 15½. It was nearly impossible.
“I birdied the last two holes for 81. It felt pretty good. It didn’t feel like I played that bad.”
Categories
- Athletics (5)
- Aussie Rules (1)
- Basketball (12)
- Camogie (3)
- College American football (1)
- Combat (185)
- Cricket (17)
- Cycling (4)
- Darts (36)
- Editors-picks (13)
- Football (1210)
- Formula-1 (14)
- GAA (308)
- Golf (162)
- Hockey (1)
- Horse Racing (172)
- interviews (3)
- LGFA (3)
- MLB Baseball (2)
- NFL (23)
- ROI Radar (1)
- Rowing (1)
- Rugby (188)
- Snooker (6)
- Swimming (3)
- Tennis (17)
- Uncategorized (17)
- WWE (1)
