Rory McIlroy Continues Quest for Fifth Major Championship
PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA | Before and during major championships, questions whirl around Rory McIlroy much as squawking seagulls hover overhead when the fishing boats return to port. Will this be the one he wins to take his total of major victories from four to five? Will this be the one that ends a 10-year drought in major championships? Will this be the one that silences his interrogators? Questions, questions, questions.
He remains a darling of the fairways, a fans’ favourite. “Rory, Rory, we’re rooting for you,” came a voice as he walked off the seventh tee. “Come on, Rors,” came another voice. In his first round, a 65, McIlroy hit 15 greens in regulation and went without a bogey, one of only two men to do so. His score was 5-under-par on a day when the field’s scoring average was 73.25. He was tied for the lead with Patrick Cantlay, a man with whom he sometimes finds it hard to agree.
More than at most courses, one secret to amassing a decent score at Pinehurst No. 2 is to limit any damage immediately after it has occurred. McIlroy did this very well in his first round and well in his second, even though he ran up three bogeys and no double bogeys. His philosophy at U.S. Opens is conservatism: Hit it in the fairway from the tee, on to the green from the fairway, take two putts and walk off to the next tee feeling happy. It has brought him top-10 finishes in the past five U.S. Opens. “Rory, Rory, we’re rooting for you,” came a voice as he walked off the seventh tee. “Come on, Rors,” came another voice.
He is a changed man at this event since 2019. “I really don’t think I embraced the U.S. Open setups for the first 10 years of my career,” he said. “I played my first one in ’09, and I think I really changed my mindset [about U.S. Opens] in 2019 [with a T9 at Pebble Beach]. Since then, I’ve started to enjoy this style of play much more.
McIlroy’s play in his first two rounds prompted the questions to whirl around him once again. Will this be his second U.S. Open victory, 13 years after his first, at Congressional? Will this be his first triumph in the game’s four greatest prizes since his last, at the PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2014? Questions, questions, questions. There is a surfeit of them, and here is one more: Will McIlroy be able to provide the desired answer over the next two days?
