By:
Graeme Hanna
Rory McIlroy experienced a frustrating opening day at the US Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania, with his disappointing score predicted by Paul McGinley.
The reigning Masters champion, from Holywood, just made the cut, despite a bright start. McIlroy secured a two-under-par through the opening nine holes, then a drastic downturn saw him record a six-over 41.
He ended the day trailing the unfancied frontrunner, JJ Spaun, by four shots on four-over, taking joint 62nd place on the leaderboard.
Rory McIlroy’s initial woes at the US Open won’t surprise many, and certainly not Paul McGinley.
The former Ryder Cup captain described the 36-year-old’s pre-tournament press conference as “very worrying” after the County Down native admitted he was struggling for motivation and energy following his Masters triumph at Augusta in April that secured the coveted career Grand Slam.
McGinley acknowledged that McIlroy’s game wasn’t disastrous, but his profligacy to put points on the board reflected the current malaise.
“I don’t think Rory played that badly,” he said.
“He scored badly. He didn’t glue it together on that back nine like you need to at a US Open, six-over for nine holes is really going to hurt you at a US Open.”
https://twitter.com/ballsdotie/status/1933190807093195176
It doesn’t look like it’ll come this week
Ahead of the action at Oakmont, McGinley could see the absence of a glint in Rory McIlroy’s eye.
The verve and drive that spurred him at Augusta were nowhere to be seen, with a likely outcome to unfold at Oakmont.
“I’m no psychologist but it looks like the air has been sucked out of him a little since that, not just in the way he’s played but in his press conferences,” opined the 58-year-old Dubliner.
“It’s very un-Rory-like in his press conferences to have such low energy. There will be a reset at some stage and it doesn’t look like it’ll come this week. His team are saying he’s playing okay.”
“But this is not normal Rory McIlroy. This is not when he’s at his best in my opinion. I think he’s at his best when he’s p****d off and he’s out to prove something following off a big loss or something that went wrong,” added McGinley.
Meanwhile, US player Spaun surpassed expectations to secure a bogey-free, four under 66 to take the lead, one shot ahead of South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence and two over fellow American Brooks Koepka and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im, with all three tied in third place.
Image credit: @NUCLRGOLF/X
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