Rory McIlroy may be in red-hot form ahead of this week's US Open - but Paul McGinley questions if the course will suit.
The Holywood star blitzed the field at the Canadian Open last week to win by seven shots and flirt with a final round 59.
In a dominant display, McIlroy's two opening drives combined were just short of 700 yards as he brought Hamilton Golf & Country Club to its knees.
But McGinley believes McIlroy's prodigious power may not be a huge asset at Pebble Beach where patience will be a virtue.
"It's not a Rory McIlroy golf course," McGinley said. "It's not a golf course that is going to give him a big advantage.
"He's going to have to play really well to contend around here. And historically he has never played well on really tough golf courses.
"Even the US Open he won in 2011, he won it with 16 under par."
The former Ryder Cup captain explained: "There are ten holes where every player in the field this week will be hitting wedge, nine iron or less into the greens.
"This is not a big golf course. It is just over 7,000 yards, which is short by modern standards.
"It is going to be all about hitting fairways. You don't need length to win around here.
"Your distance control has got to be spot on. You're spin control has got to be spot on. And you have to control the trajectory in the wind.
"So it brings a lot more people into and it plays away from the power hitters - the likes of Rory and Brooks Koepka."
McIlroy's triumph in Canada was his 16th on the PGA Tour and moved him back up to third in the world rankings.
It was also a tenth appearance in the top ten from 13 starts this season and once again he heads the betting markets for a major championship.
Indeed, no sooner had the 30-year-old lifted the trophy in Ontario then he admitted his focus was already turning to Pebble Beach and winning a second US Open title.
It is a career that Paul McGinley believes will always be evaluated by the number of major championships on the CV.
He said: "The biggest challenge that Rory is facing now, and has faced for the last five years, is the huge weight of expectation on his shoulders.
"Every time he tees it up, he is expected to perform and play well. And it's not just Rory McIlroy that is in that position.
"That's what made Tiger Woods so special. The fact that he kept on going forward and forward with this huge expectation on him as the guy to beat.
"For Rory, it probably comes internally too. He knows he is better than nearly everybody in the game and that brings a lot of pressure.
"It's nothing about his game. It's nothing about his preparation. It's dealing with that huge expectation.
"It is less for regular European and PGA Tour events but when it comes to majors, he knows he is going to defined by how many he wins and that adds a lot of pressure."
Paul McGinley is a Sky Sports analyst and will be providing commentary on 119th US Open at Pebble Beach in California. All four days of action will be shown live and exclusively on Sky Sports.
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