Rory McIlroy 'trending in the right direction' ahead of the Open

McIlroy's title challenge was undone by a third-round, three-over-par 73. That had sent him back to the practice range where he was caught on camera mouthing the words, “you're so bad at golf” to himself.

RIGHT DIRECTION: Rory McIlroy picks up the pace though the rough during practice for the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Pic: Stuart Kerr/R&A

Given Rory McIlroy’s stated aim at The 154th Open Championship this week is simply to “see how good I can be”, the course in front of him should give him an appropriate gauge on which to judge.

Like most of these islands of late, Royal Birkdale on England’s north-west coast has been dry as a bone, its fairways burnt by soaring temperatures and the breeze that comes off the Irish Sea.

Thrown in the changes made to the layout at this perennial Open host since the oldest major’s most recent visit in 2017 and there will be plenty to occupy the six-time major winner as he bids to win his second Claret Jug, a cheque for $3.2 million (€2.8m) and add to his Masters title, successfully defended three months ago.

Since Jordan Spieth won here nine years ago, seven shots clear of McIlroy in a tie for fourth place, two holes have been redesigned on the old course footprint while the old par-three 14th has been removed. 

The new 14th is the par-five that used to be the 15th with architects Mackenzie and Ebert introducing a new par-three as the hole four from home.

The 37-year-old McIlroy got his first look at the next design on a reconnaissance mission to Birkdale a fortnight ago and aside from physical developments he also noted the changes to the set-up after a further period of hot, dry weather.

“I think it's a double-edged sword. I think all this dry weather and sun and a little bit of wind is obviously great for the course in one way, but when I was here a couple weeks ago, the rough was a lot more penal than it's going to be this week. It's definitely burnt out a lot.

“The big thing, especially off the tee here, is the fairway bunkers and avoiding those. You might see some guys being more aggressive off the tee, taking driver, trying to take the fairway bunkers out of play. Okay, it might be in the rough, but it's not that penal, so you get a wedge in your hand and you can figure it out from there.

“Yeah, I think most of the changes are very good. I really like the (par-four) fifth hole. I like the change to the (now shorter par-three) seventh. Some of the greens are maybe a little unnatural with the run-offs and sort of what they've tried to do with the mounding.

"But it creates a good challenge, and it creates options for if you do miss the green, whether it's a putter, a bump-and-run, some guys might choose lob wedge.

“I think what we all know, even going back to Shinnecock a few weeks ago (at the US Open), when you give professional golfers options and you can create a little bit of doubt in their minds in terms of should I play this shot or that shot, that's when things start to get fun, especially for the viewer. Not so much for us but... that to me is the sign of a good championship test.

"I think one of the common things you hear about Birkdale is it's very fair for a links golf course. The fairways aren't overly undulating, so when you land the ball in the fairway here, it seems like it stays on the fairway. There's not a ton of blind shots, which I've never really had a problem with in other links courses, but that's something that people say… it's quite a common thing.

“I've always liked this course. I first played here in the Amateur Championship and then played an Open back here in 2017 and did okay. Yeah, it's definitely… if you were to poll every player in the field, I'd say it would be up there in terms of being everyone's favourite Open venues to play for sure.”

As far as McIlroy is concerned, his own game is “trending in the right direction”.

The Holywood golfer rebounded from a tie for 32nd at last month’s US Open in New York, with a tie for seventh at last weekend’s Scottish Open, though his title challenge was undone by a third-round, three-over-par 73.

That had sent him back to the practice range at The Renaissance Club where he was caught on camera mouthing the words, “you're so bad at golf” to himself. He rebounded last Sunday with a closing six-under 64 to go with his opening pair of 63s.

“It's funny, I felt really good the first two days in Scotland and then felt like my game just sort of deteriorated as the week went on,” McIlroy said. “Even though I shot a good score on Sunday, it didn't feel very good.

“So, yeah, I've done a good bit of work the past couple days, again, getting the TrackMan out, seeing what my numbers are, and just trying to match up the feels of my swing with what I'm seeing.

“Also, like I played 30 holes on Sunday. I felt a little bit tired yesterday, so I didn't make it on the course, but that allowed me a bit more time to hit some balls and dig into the swing a little bit.

“Felt good on the range. Felt good out on the course today. Definitely trending in the right direction.”