Cool McIlroy keeping it real ahead of Olympic

Rory McIlroy made winning the US Open last year look pretty easy but the defending champion knows this year’s championship course will not be set up with a view to further record breaking.

Then 22, McIlroy became the youngest US Open champion in nearly a century, when he cruised to an eight-stroke victory at Congressional Country Club near Washington DC, posting all four rounds in the 60s to break the 72-hole scoring mark with a 268 total, and in the process breaking or tying 12 US Open records.

The Down man recognises that the wet weather that hit Congressional 12 months ago was conducive to low scoring but even allowing for the changeable northern California coastal climate and sea breezes that will accompany this week’s championship in San Francisco, he is expecting the United States Golf Association to make his job as challenging as it can possibly be this time around at the Olympic Club.