By his own admission, Rory McIlroy has struggled to motivate himself since the pinnacle of his career with the completion of the career Grand Slam at The Masters.
Even though that moment is now over two months ago, he still wasn’t himself at the US Open, and even hinted after Saturday’s third round that he had no particular desire to stay at Oakmont longer than he needed to. First, he suggested he hadn’t been desperate to make the cut and then, asked what he would be hoping to get out of his final round, saying: “Hopefully a round in under four and a half hours and get out of here.”
In the end, McIlroy’s performance on Sunday hinted at better days to come, with his best round of the week, a three-under 67 to finish on seven over for the tournament.
McIlroy has one more commitment, the Travelers Championship, before thoughts turn to an extended trip to Europe for the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open, which will take place in his homeland of Northern Ireland at Royal Portrush.
He has unfinished business at the course after narrowly missing the cut in the 2019 Open following a nightmarish opening round of 79, and on the prospect of returning, he said: “Just trying to get myself in the right frame of mind to approach that.
"I feel like playing an Open at Portrush already and sort of at least remembering what those feelings were like and those feelings that I was probably unprepared for at the time. Yeah, and obviously it will be my first time sort of in public back home after winning the Masters. It should be a really nice week.”
McIlroy also revealed he was looking forward to what should be a special homecoming following his historic achievement at Augusta National in April, “Yeah, hopefully I can celebrate with them on Sunday night with the Claret Jug and the Green Jacket,” he said.
“Look, it will be amazing to go home and play in that atmosphere and see a lot of people that I still haven't seen yet. I am, I'm really looking forward to it. It was nice to end this week with a bit of a positive note with the way I played today, and yeah, I'll just be looking forward to and trying to get myself prepared for Portrush.”
Given McIlroy’s recent struggles, The Open probably couldn’t come at a better time, and he admitted that if anything can drag him from his slump, it is the Major in his homeland. He added: “I think, look, if I can't get motivated to get up for an Open Championship at home, then I don't know what can motivate me. Yeah, as I said, I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind.
“I probably haven't been there the last few weeks. But as I said, getting home and having a couple weeks off before that, hopefully feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, will get me in the right place again.”
While McIlroy is hopeful that will reignite him mentally, the 36-year-old revealed he was happy with the trajectory of his game in general, particularly his driving. He said: “I feel like I've driven the ball well all week. After the way I drove it today, I'd say I finished in the top five in strokes gained off the tee.
“Really encouraged with the driver and how I drove it as well. It's not necessarily the driver, it's more me and sort of where my swing was. I feel like I got a really good feeling in my swing with the driver, which was great. Hopefully I can continue that on into next week. Yeah, it's close, as I said. Physically I feel like my game's there. It's just mentally getting myself in the right frame of mind to get the best out of myself.”
He then returned to his chance to claim the Claret Jug in Northern Ireland, reiterating that it could give him just the spark he needs to get back on track.
He said: “Look, I climbed my Everest in April, and I think after you do something like that, you've got to make your way back down, and you've got to look for another mountain to climb. An Open at Portrush is certainly one of those.”
