One of the lowest points from the 11 years Rory McIlroy waited for a fifth major title came at The Open Championship in 2024.
Rory McIlroy went to Royal Troon having lost the US Open in agonising fashion just weeks earlier. And it was almost impossible to not make a connection between the disappointment from Pinehurst and his performance at the final major of the year.
What have you made of the setup on Thursday at the US Open?
Shinnecock Hills has been brutal…
McIlroy missed the cut in South Ayrshire. He opened up with a round of 78, and his hopes of making it through to the weekend were dashed when he made an eight on his fourth hole on Friday.
How Rory McIlroy reacted to missing the cut at The Open Championship in 2024
McIlroy would admit afterwards that the windy conditions got the better of him.
“I didn’t adapt well at all on Thursday to the left-right wind on the back nine, and this afternoon [Friday] going out in that gusty wind on the front, it got the better of me and I felt pretty uncomfortable over a few shots,” said McIlroy, as reported by BBC Sport.
“That four-hole stretch to start off was what cost me. I got off to the worst possible start being six over through six, but then played the last 12 holes pretty well, bogey-free.”
Fast forward less than two years, and McIlroy has opened up with a 69 on Thursday at the US Open at Shinnecock Hills.
The Northern Irishman will not lead at the first round of the third major of the year. However, he can be hugely satisfied with his performance.
McIlroy’s round did end with two bogeys on his final two holes. But it is fair to say that those who went out in the morning faced considerably tougher conditions.
Rory McIlroy may be a more complete player than at any other time in his career
There was a moment on his 18th hole that would have previously caused McIlroy all sorts of issues, with his tee shot leaving him with the ball well above his feet for his approach.
He did miss the green to the left. However, the miss was so much smaller than it surely would have been just a couple of years ago given the lie and the conditions.
What happened at Royal Troon was not the only turning point. It was at Shinnecock Hills in 2018 that McIlroy missed his third US Open cut in a row.
He has subsequently become an outstanding player in the US Open. He has finished second twice since then, while he has not finished outside the top 20.
And following his round on Thursday, he explained how pivotal his previous performance at Shinnecock was in his career.
“I think the big thing was I needed to change my mindset. I’ve told this story before, but I played those two days in 2018, and then I got to the Travelers the next week. I remember like feeling so much in my comfort zone going to TPC River Highlands and thinking to myself, I’ve got this backwards. I should be in my comfort zone at Shinnecock and not here,” he said.
“So it was an effort really, like it hasn’t looked as if I’ve went and done a rebuild of my game, but it’s felt like it in terms of the way I approach the game and the value I place on certain shots and certain skills within the game.
“I remember flying back from Dubai at the end of 2018, and I would keep, like, a journal or a diary. I wrote in it that from 2019 going forward, I’m going to build my game to compete at the major championships and excel at the toughest tests that we have.
“Again, working on the things that you need to do well to excel at these, which is flighting the ball, hitting your numbers, wedge play, short game, putting, which is all the stuff that I feel like I’ve improved over the last few years.”
It may not be McIlroy’s week. A lot is going to have to fall into place for that to happen.
However, there is an argument that McIlroy’s game has never been more complete than it is now.
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