US Open: Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry paired for opening rounds

June 10, 2025

Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy have been paired together for the opening rounds of the US Open.

The third major of the year gets underway on Thursday at the notoriously difficult Oakmont Country Club, Pennsylvania.

The Irish duo will be the 12th group to tee off on the opening day at 7:40 am local time. That’s 12:40 pm Irish time.

Justin Rose will also join the pair, and they will tee off on the 10th hole. Their second round will tee off at 18:25 Irish time.

Other notable groups include tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland.

Bryson de Chambeau will be partnered with Xander Schauffele and Jose Luis Ballester Barrio, while a high-profile trio of Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson will also entertain fans.

Rory McIlroy struggling for form ahead of US Open

The Northern Irishman has struggled to find any form since his heroic Masters win in April.

He had a nightmare at the Canadian Open, having failed to make the cut at nine over. That put him 149th in the leaderboard in a 153-man field.

Before that, he finished tied for 47th at the PGA Championship with a 3-over par score following the four rounds.

McIlroy is dealing with a couple of issues that he’ll need to overcome if he’s to challenge towards the top of the leaderboard. That is despite his impressive overall record at the US Open.

One of those includes his form with the driver. Following the debacle at the PGA Championship, whereby his driver was deemed non-conforming, McIlroy has struggled to hit the fairways.

He tried out a new 44-inch driver at the Canadian Open but hit just 13 out of 28 fairways in Toronto. When asked whether his driver concerns him heading into this week, he responded: “Of course it concerns me.

“I felt like I came here (Toronto), obviously with a new driver, thinking that was going to be good and solve some problems off the tee, but it didn’t.”

️ Rory McIlroy launched a rocket off the first tee this morning. Will he capture his second major of the year this week?

(Via: @GolfDigest)

pic.twitter.com/b394BzybAp

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) June 10, 2025

Motivation another key issue at the US Open

His Grand Slam victory at Augusta was history in the making. Although it took 10 years of major droughts and numerous heartbreaks before fulfilling his dream.

McIlroy took a small break after The Masters and later admitted that now he’s achieved a lifelong ambition, motivation has proven to be a challenge.

“I would certainly say that the last few weeks—I’ve had a couple of weeks off—and going and grinding on the range for three or four hours everyday is maybe a little tougher than it used to be,” he told reporters.

“You have this event in your life that you’ve worked towards and it happens, sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation to get back on the horse and go again.”