Rory McIlroy skips media again after round goes south at U.S. Open
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OAKMONT, PA. — Rory McIlroy’s day started much better than it finished at Oakmont on Thursday.
Early on Day 1 of the U.S. Open, McIlroy appeared to have found his game. And quite possibly the right driver as well. It ended with another day of media silence after a six-over par 41 on his second nine and a four-over par opening round at the season’s third major.
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Starting his day on the back nine, McIlroy made an early statement on the par-5 12th hole by hitting his first driver of the day 392 yards down the fairway to set up his second birdie in his first three holes.
Coming off an embarrassing performance wildly missing the cut at the RBC Canadian Open, the Masters champ completed his first nine holes at the brutish Oakmont in a bogey-free two-under par.
Things went south for the Northern Irish star after making the turn and bogeying the first hole. He went on to make four bogeys and a double bogey on his second nine. Much like the PGA Championship last month, he then turned down post-round interview requests from media.
One of the great drivers of the golf ball in history of the sport, it has been fascinating to watch the 36-year-old struggle with his greatest weapon since his trusty TaylorMade Qi10 failed USGA testing ahead of the PGA Championship. After missing the cut in Canada last week with a newer Qi35, McIlroy returned to Florida and switched drivers again after testing a number of replacements, going back to the older Qi10 model.
The results were mixed on Thursday, with the eye-popping 392-yard smash but some accuracy issues in the tight driving corridors of Oakmont as he went 7/14 hitting fairways.
Prior to teeing it up this week, McIlroy raised some eyebrows with comments that his problem might be more with motivation than with his driver. And the less he talks, the more the golf world will be left trying to fill in the blanks.
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