Rory McIlroy ready for dip in Chambers Bay
McIlroy was long gone from the 2013 Open Championship venue by the time Phil Mickelson landed his first Claret Jug, the Irishman’s rounds of 79 and 75 further compounding a miserable season which had seen him struggle with his game following a switch to Nike clubs and ball.
Muirfield marked the nadir for McIlroy who began to slowly turn his golf around from that point, eventually winning in Australia that December and then restoring his pomp in 2014 with back-to-back major victories in The Open and PGA Championship.
"If you are just slightly off, the course can magnify that." - @McIlroyRory on the setup of Chambers Bay. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/4npzGeMBVI
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 16, 2015
Now McIlroy finds himself at a US Open on a course he described yesterday as a pure links challenge, very reminiscent of Muirfield and similarly baked seaside courses on the R&A’s championship rotation yet completely comfortable with the prospect now he has reclaimed the control over his game he admitted had deserted him just 23 months ago.
“I’m a completely different player. I’m in a completely different place,” McIlroy said.
“I had no control of my golf game at that point in time, and I feel like I’m pretty much in full control of it at the minute. I can tell you, no, a repeat of that is definitely not going to happen.” McIlroy said he was also at ease with the volatile nature of his form which has most recently seen him collect two victories on the PGA Tour in quick succession followed by two missed cuts in Europe, including his homecoming at the Irish Open.
Not for him the steady consistency that has made lesser talents multi-millionaires without ever really making their mark on the game. The now four-time major champion is accepting of his all or nothing approach to a career destined for the hall of fame.
“I didn’t obviously want to miss those two cuts in Europe. But I think that’s just the way I’m going to be. I’d rather in a six-tournament period have three wins and three missed cuts than six top-10s. It’s just volatility in golf is actually a good thing.
“If your good weeks are really good, it far outweighs the bad weeks. Golf is so top heavy like that.”
Rory McIlroy signing autographs for fans at the #USOpen. pic.twitter.com/K873z2ns8T
— Tim Lewis (@LewisSports) June 16, 2015
Putting those missed cuts down to mental fatigue at the end of a six-week run of tournaments rather any mechanical defects in his game, McIlroy said he shook off the cobwebs not by hitting the range but by decompressing with a three-day break in London, during which he walked up to 10 miles daily. It spoke of a man happy with his lot and far from worried about any perceived loss of form and he later said that kind of contentment could allow him to maintain his reign at the top of the world rankings for many years to come.
“I think the biggest thing is motivation. It’s setting your goals all the time and trying to achieve those. In a golf perspective, it’s just trying to get better, trying to achieve more things and set goals for yourself and try and accomplish that. “
And then off the course, you have to be stable, be happy, keep it simple. I think that’s the big thing. If you want your longevity in golf, you look at the likes of... you’re going back to the day of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, they all had very stable personal lives and kept life fairly simple. And I think that’s a big key to having a long and successful career.”
Winning a US Open requires a long and successful week and at Chambers Bay the emphasis will be on the long, in McIlroy’s opinion.
“It’s a very long golf course. You’re wanting to hit shorter irons into these greens. Some of these greens, where I’m hitting maybe a six or a seven iron in, a lot of the field are going to be going in with five and four irons. It’s tough enough going in there with the clubs I’m going in with.
“I completely agree with Jason (Day), guys that hit the ball a long way, I think if you can carry the ball like 295, 300 (yards) in the air this week, you’re going to have a big advantage.”
That certainly applies to McIlroy and so the next question is whether he has all the other elements in place to succeed in “a pure links test” such as this fast, firm and still drying course will provide by the waters of Puget Sound.
“I’d like to say that I can adapt my game to all different types of courses and conditions. I feel like I’ve won enough in different conditions that my game is adaptable to wherever you go. When I said I feel like this course suits my game, I was talking about having that length off the tee and having the height on the iron shots that I can get. But you have to adapt your game to suit the golf course. You shouldn’t hope that the golf course suits your game. I feel like I’ve got a good game plan this week.
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