Mindset change edging Rory McIlroy closer to another US Open title

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and his caddie, Harry Diamond, prepare for a shot on the second hole during a practice round prior to the US Open at Pinehurst. Picture: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Rory McIlroy once again arrived to his third major of the year fashionably late on Tuesday morning, giving himself 36 hours to prepare to play one of the trickiest golf courses in the world, Pinehurst No. 2. It’s been 10 years since McIlroy last saw it, and a lot has changed from the mature waste areas to the greens being converted to Bermudagrass.

But McIlroy arrives at his 16th career U.S. Open feeling good about his chances to add his name to the trophy for a second time. After a string of missed U.S. Open cuts from 2016-18, he’s posted five consecutive top-10 finishes, trending closer every year – T9, T8, T7, T5 and solo second last year a shot behind Wyndham Clark. There’s only one place to improve this year.

“I've been on a pretty good run of U.S. Open performances over the last few years,” McIlroy said Tuesday. “Obviously had a close call at LACC last year, obviously Wyndham just pipping me to the post there. But I feel like I really struggled at U.S. Open setups, 2016, '17, '18 in particular. I sort of had a bit of a I guess come-to-Jesus moment after that, tried to really figure out why that was. Then my performances from 2019 and after that have been really, really good.” 

That transformation and “reframing” of his mindest came from learning to accept the kind of challenge a U.S. Open represents as typically the most grueling major championship test. It didn’t always jibe with McIlroy’s preferred playing style – a soggy Congressional in 2011 notwithstanding.

“I would say embracing the difficult conditions, embracing the style of golf needed to contend at a U.S. Open, embracing patience,” he explained of his turnaround of fortunes. 

“Honestly, embracing what I would have called ‘boring’ back in the day. Explosiveness isn't going to win a U.S. Open. It's more methodically building your score over the course of four days and being okay with that.” 

In many ways, Pinehurst should be the kind of test McIlroy should prefer. Without any trademark thick rough – like the kind players dealt with last week in the Memorial at Muirfield Village – it allows players the chance to make recovery shots from sandy waste areas littered with clumps of wire grass and native plants that more often than not allow players to make a play for the Donald Ross crowned greens, which are Pinehurst’s true defenses.

“Going back to last week at Memorial, people hit it offline or people hit a green, you're basically only seeing players hit one shot. There's only one option. That turns into it being somewhat one-dimensional and honestly not very exciting,” McIlroy said. 

“I think a course like this definitely demands a different skill set and also some creativity. I think that will be on display this week. I've already seen some videos online of people maybe trying fairway woods or having lob wedges or putters. Even if you get half lucky and get a decent lie in that wire grass, sandy area, being able to hit a recovery shot.” 

Rory McIlroy plays his shot from the third tee during a practice round prior to the US Open. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

McIlroy said he would concentrate his shortened prep window on figuring out how best to handle the shots around the greens. It’s an element of his game he doesn’t get as much credit for, but he feels very comfortable relying upon.

“Like most Donald Ross courses, it's on and around the greens where I'm going to have to sort of do the most work and sort of figure out what shots to hit around greens,” he said.

“I feel like I've turned myself into a pretty proficient player around the greens. I've always been a pretty good chipper of the golf ball. Bunker play has been solid for most of my career. I feel like I've turned myself into a really good putter over the past sort of four or five years. But yeah, the driving is what people are interested in when they watch me hit a golf ball. That's fine. But it takes more than driving a golf ball to win the amount of tournaments that I have.” 

Not arriving until Tuesday meant McIlroy wasn’t able to attend Pádraig Harrington’s World Golf Hall of Fame induction on Monday night. But he praised Harrington’s “paving the way” for a subsequent generation of Irish major successes.

“I think myself, Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke, Shane Lowry, a lot of us, we looked at him and saw him achieving things that we wanted to achieve, and it sort of made us believe a little bit more that we could,” McIlroy said. “I think he really paved the way for us in some way.” 

McIlroy won’t have to look far this week to know how his game stacks up against the favorites. Like at the Masters, he’s paired the first two rounds with world Nos. 1 and 2 Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, the reigning Masters and PGA champions. Other than guarding against focusing too much on each other rather than the course, McIlroy relishes being the centre of the attention on a major stage.

“It's cool to be part of these pairings,” he said. “I think at this point, Scottie, Xander and myself are all experienced enough not to get caught up in it, just to go about our business, try to shoot a couple good scores to put ourselves in position going into the weekend.” 

McIlroy’s long-standing quest of being considered the greatest European champion has been stalled for 10 years on four majors, behind Seve Ballesteros’ five and Nick Faldo’s six. While satisfied with the many things he’s been able to accomplish over the last decade, getting over that major hurdle remains a big step needed to reach his ultimate goals.

“Obviously getting my hands on a fifth major has taken quite a while, but I'm more confident than ever that I'm right there, that I'm as close as I've ever been,” he said.