The US Open proved to be another strange week for Rory McIlroy in what is turning out to be one of the more turbulent seasons of his career.
Rory McIlroy went into Sunday at the US Open with next to no chance of winning his sixth major title. The Northern Irishman did well to even make the cut at Oakmont.
In fact, most of the talk surrounding McIlroy over the first few days in Pennsylvania concerned his decision not to speak to the media after his rounds on Thursday and Friday.
When McIlroy did finally speak to the press, he was extremely prickly. He admitted that he was frustrated with the media, and suggested that he felt entitled to do whatever he wanted to do when questioned about his boycott over the PGA Championship and the first half of the US Open.
Smylie Kaufman comments on Rory McIlroy’s week at the US Open
McIlroy appeared to be a man almost transformed on Sunday. He gave interviews before and after his round, while he produced the joint-best round of the day to move inside the top 20. The 36-year-old posted a 67 to end his underwhelming week on a high.
It is going to be interesting to see where McIlroy goes from here.
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman defended McIlroy not speaking to the media while in something of a rut, while he also commented on his performance at Oakmont.
“I just hope he comes and plays when he’s ready. Nobody wants to see Rory McIlroy in a foul mood talking to the media. We shouldn’t force him to. If he’s irked at the media and he needs time to decompress with whatever’s bothering him, let him decompress. I’m over us having Rory talk, and if he doesn’t want to talk and then we get this version, nobody wants to hear it. So I’d much rather him just come back ready to play, and then kind of get the old Rory back,” he said.
“By the way, he played really good today. I just looked at the stats, he was first strokes gained off the tee this week. That was a big conversation coming into the week, but from watching him, he was really struggling with hitting his numbers. He was coming up short and long, so that’s always a big sign for me when players are off, or don’t quite have the feels, is when they’re missing numbers by eight to 10 yards short and long. So start working on hitting it more pin high, and shoot, if he’s driving it good again, 11 fairways today, that’s a good stat, it means his swing’s in a pretty decent spot.”
How Rory McIlroy has performed at the Travelers Championship across his career
McIlroy is set to be back in action this week. He will tee it up at Travelers Championship having withdrawn from the event after the drama of last year’s US Open.
He does not actually have the best record in the event during his career. He has one top 10 in five appearances at TPC River Highlands.
Having said that, he has also never finished outside of the top 20 either. So it will be very intriguing to see how he fares in the coming days.
If his round on Sunday is a sign of what is to come, then perhaps things will soon start to turn around for McIlroy.
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