- Rory McIlroy has admitted he wants to ‘get out of here’ amid US Open nightmare
- The Northern Irishman nearly missed the cut during a torrid two days at Oakmont
Rory McIlroy has admitted his only remaining ambitions for this US Open are a quick final round and even quicker getaway.
That might prove difficult based on his surplus of shots at Oakmont this week, with his latest offering on a Saturday being a 74 to fall to 10 over par for the tournament.
This has been the strangest of trips for McIlroy, whose post-Augusta lull has now stretched deep into a second straight major. His game is off and so is his mood, best encapsulated by that remark about his goals for Sunday.
Asked what he was looking for in his final lap, he said: ‘Hopefully a round in under four and a half hours and get out of here.’
That was a blunt answer in an otherwise blunt chat with media, whom he continues to blame for reporting on his issues with a non-compliant driver at the PGA Championship last month.
It has seemed an odd and unnecessary fight to pick, but such are his complexities it might even be a means to spark a fire within after coming down from the Masters high.
Rory McIlroy admitted he is keen for a swift getaway amid his nightmare US Open showing
The Northern Irishman nearly missed the US Open cut during a torrid two days at Oakmont
McIlroy’s game is off and his post-Augusta lull has stretched deep into a second straight major
By McIlroy’s own admission, motivation has been an issue in the past two months, and it was revealed again when he reflected on his feelings of 24 hours earlier, when he crept inside the cut line. The final 15 holes of his second round had been played in two under par, which is no small feat on this course, but McIlroy had an explanation for that.
As he put it: ‘It’s funny, like it’s much easier being on the cut line when you don’t really care if you’re here for the weekend or not. I was sort of thinking, “Do I really want two more days here or not?” So it makes it easier to play better when you’re in that mindset.’
The hope will be that these clouds lift in the near future, because two poor majors and a missed cut in Canadia are wildly out of kilter with the rest of his season. Given he has won the Masters and two other titles, he could fail to break 80 between now and December and it would still be a career-defining year, but the current slump was not an outcome anyone saw coming.
If there was any merit to his third round, it is that he didn’t hurl any clubs or smash a tee marker to smithereens, as he did in his second. Instead, it was a trudge of two birdies and six bogeys, including a missed putt from four feet at the 14th.
