US Open: McGinley says Rory McIlroy interview was 'very worrying'

June 12, 2025

Paul McGinley described Rory McIlroy’s press conference as “very worrying” ahead of the US Open.

McIlroy heads into the third major of the year with numerous issues that he’ll need to overcome if he’s to achieve any success at Oakmont.

He has been open about the challenge of sourcing motivation since his Masters and career grand slam win in April.

On Wednesday, McIlroy said he was “trying to get his stuff together” after finishing 149th in a 153-man field at the Canadian Open last week.

Having watched his press conference, 58-year-old McGinley shared his concern about McIlroy’s lack of energy.

Rory McIlroy’s had the air sucked out of him ahead of US Open

Speaking on the Golf Channel, he said: “It was very worrying looking at his press conference there.

“His eyes weren’t alive. The energy was not there.

“He certainly didn’t have the pointy elbows the way we saw coming into the Masters.

“He was a man on a mission, he was a man on a bounce, he was a man out to prove something. ‘Get out of my way, here I come. I’ve got something to accomplish.’ You could see that and feel the energy.

“You don’t see it at the moment. I know from my own experience, when you win tournaments, you check out. You don’t feel the same. You want to be there and you put in the energy but something inside you is just missing.

“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.

“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. 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.”

Oakmont is playing ‘impossible’

That was the verdict from McIlroy after shooting 81, 11-over par, in a warm-up round.

The course is notoriously difficult. When hosting the US Open in 2016, just four players shot under par as McIlroy missed the cut.

McIlroy said of the course: “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.”

Scottie Scheffler is unsurprisingly the favourite to win back-to-back majors after the PGA Championship while McIlroy can be backed at 9/1 with best bets.