Rory McIlroy struggles in first round at U.S. Open
OAKMONT, Pa. — On Monday Rory McIlroy liked his swing.
Once the first round started on Thursday he couldn’t find it.
The world No. 3 finished with three consecutive bogeys Friday morning at soggy Oakmont Country Club and signed for a 7-over-par 77 that placed at the bottom page of the leaderboard. He is currently 11 shots out of the lead.
“I've been struggling with my swing, even the practice rounds a little bit. I know what I'm doing, but it's hard to change it out there,” McIlroy said. “ … I might come out here later this afternoon and work on it a little bit and see if I can just hit it a little bit better. I don't need to swing perfect, but I just need to be able to play one shot and know that I know where it's going to start and I know where it's going to finish and just try to go from there.”
The four-time major champion, who won this championship in 2011, made just one birdie and eight bogeys in his round that stretched over two days because of unrelenting storms that caused delays on Thursday. McIlroy’s round was interrupted three times, the stop-and-go nature throwing him off his rhythm. As well, once the moisture took some fire out of the greens — they were running at least 14 on the Stimpmeter earlier this week but have slowed down to around 12 — McIlroy couldn’t find the proper pace while putting and needed 34 putts.
“Whenever you've been preparing, especially even last Monday and Tuesday when I came here and you're thinking of hitting shots a certain way, and then all of a sudden, the golf course is completely different. At least now you can hit the targets, and you know the ball is going to stop pretty much where it lands. But it is a bit of an adjustment, and that's been hard,” McIlroy said. “ … Preparing on greens that were 13 and 14 on the Stimpmeter and now putting on sort of 11 and 12, it's quite an adjustment, but everyone has to make that.”
McIlroy, who won the Irish Open and finished fourth in The Memorial in his last two starts, might alter his course of action when he begins his second round on Saturday because of the soft conditions. On Thursday he forced himself to take a conservative approach to Oakmont.
“With the way the golf course is, with it being so soft, I might just go out there in the second round and hit a lot of drivers and try to be as aggressive as I possibly can be,” he said. “ … I think for me the toughest thing is just trying to stay positive and not get too down on myself.”