Last week’s RBC Canadian Open winner, Rory McIlroy, is looking to go low early at Pebble Beach as he bids to end his Major golf drought at the US Open.
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The 2011 winner of this event at Congressional has not won a single of the sport’s elite events since the PGA Championship in 2014, and in the process he has seen Brooks Koepka rack up quite a few Major championships.
The Northern Irishman arrives in fine form with 10 top 10s in his last 12 starts, but wants to put himself up the board early on Thursday, instead of trying to launch a late fightback when the lead continues to be pushed out.
‘My first rounds at Augusta and Bethpage this year just sort of put me a little bit behind the eight ball,’ said McIlroy.
‘And it’s hard to catch up. Especially major championships are played on the toughest courses, and you start to chase on those really tough courses, it’s hard to do that.’
He’s not wrong. A one-over 73 in the first round at Augusta and a two-over 72 at Bethpage Black left him too far back to make a meaningful gain on the lead.
‘The majors that I’ve won, I started every single one of them really well, rounds in sort of the mid-60s. I think that’s what’s held me back a little bit.’
His win last week was by seven shots after a final round 61, and it’s not hard to see why he’s raring to go.
‘I know what I’m capable of, and it’s just about trying to get that out of myself just a little more often. I felt really comfortable with everything for the last few weeks.’
Jon Rahm and Marc Leishman join McIlroy on the tee at 4:51pm.
