‘Not normal’ – Rory McIlroy’s behaviour causes concern at US Open

This has been inauspicious preparation for a major championship for Rory McIlroy.

While he should still be basking in the glow of that career-defining Masters win, he is instead having to field questions about a post-Augusta hangover that has seen him underwhelm at the PGA Championship and miss the cut at last week’s Canadian Open.

Both those appearances were overshadowed by driver woes and McIlroy will now tee it up at the unforgiving Oakmont Country Club having made another change at the top of his bag.

More ominously, McIlroy revealed in his pre-tournament press conference that he shot an 11-over 81 on a reconnaissance trip to the feared Pittsburgh venue last Monday.

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And that was only after birdieing his final two holes.

McIlroy, of course, has formidable record in US Opens, with runner-up finishes in the last two renewals at Los Angeles Country Club and Pinehurst.

In fact, he has not finished outside the top-ten in this event since 2018.

The worry among some, however, is that McIlroy’s mindset is not primed for the Oakmont challenge.

What Paul McGinley saw during McIlroy’s media duties left the Irishman particularly concerned.

“You’d have to say it was very worrying looking at his press conference there,” McGinley told said on the Golf Channel’s ‘Live From’ show. “His eyes weren’t alive. The energy was not there.

“He certainly didn’t have the pointy elbows the way we saw coming into the Masters. He was a man on a mission, he was a man on a bounce, he was a man out to prove something. ‘Get out of my way, here I come. I’ve got something to accomplish.’ You could see that and feel the energy.

“You don’t see it at the moment. I know from my own experience, when you win tournaments, you check out. You don’t feel the same. You want to be there and you put in the energy but something inside you is just missing.”

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McIlroy himself has admitted he has struggled for motivation since achieving his lifelong career grand slam dream.

“I think it’s trying to have a little bit of amnesia and forget about what happened six weeks ago, then just trying to find the motivation to go back out there and work as hard as I’ve been working,” he said.

McGinley, however, isn’t convinced that’ll be a quick reset.

“It takes some time for that to reset and I think he’s going through a period of that. He’s completed a Grand Slam – sixth player in history and it’s a huge achievement,” the former Ryder Cup captain added.

“I’m no psychologist but it looks like the air has been sucked out of him a little since that, not just in the way he’s played but in his press conferences.

“It’s very un-Rory-like in his press conferences to have such low energy. There will be a reset at some stage and it doesn’t look like it’ll come this week. His team are saying he’s playing okay.

“But this is not normal Rory. This is not when he’s at his best in my opinion.

“I think he’s at his best when he’s p***ed off and he’s out to prove something following off a big loss or something that went wrong.”

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.