Will This Major End Rory McIlroy's Drought? He's in Position Again at the U.S. Open
LOS ANGELES — It this Rory McIlroy’s Hoylake, Congressional, Valhalla or Kiawah Island?
Or is this his Augusta National or Old Course?
Sitting at 8 under par after a Friday 3-under 67, with two rounds in the books at the 123rd U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, Rory McIlroy is tempting his own personal fate.
It’s the Ulsterman's sixth time he has reached 8 under in a major after 36 holes and in three of them—at Congressional (2011 U.S. Open), Hoylake (2014 British Open) and Valhalla (2014 PGA Championship—he went on to win.
In the other two majors, the 2011 Masters and 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, McIlroy finished without the trophy.
Now we come to this weekend in the City of Angels and which one will it be?
“I started thinking about winning this thing when I came here on Monday,” McIlroy said after his 48th U.S. Open round. “No one wants to win another major—no one wants me to win another major more than I do. The desire is obviously there, I've been trying, and I've come close over the past nine years or whatever it is, and I keep coming back.”
It has been 3,233 days since McIlroy hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time in Kentucky.
In his winner's press conference at that 2014 PGA, McIlroy talked about two realistic goals: winning the Grand Slam and trying to become the most successful European player ever in the modern era.
McIlroy was 25 at the time and his viewpoint was much different, as the golf world had to seem like his oyster.
Nine years later, McIlroy’s golf life has experienced heartache, doubt, indecision and scars that may never heal, yet he continues, battered and bruised, stepping out for all the world to see and question.
His goals are just as far away now as they were nine years ago, but with the difference that he understands how difficult they are to achieve in 2023 versus when he outlined them in 2014.
“I've showed a lot of resilience in my career, a lot of ups and downs, and I keep coming back,” McIlroy said after a round that included seven birdies and four bogeys. “And whether that means that I get rewarded, or I get punched in the gut or whatever it is, I'll always keep coming back.”
McIlroy seemingly loves the spotlight.
Even when he came out as a professional at the tender age of 18 in 2007, the curly haired Ulsterman was a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic—and in the middle of the Tiger Era no less.
Now, McIlroy is still one of the few needle movers on the PGA Tour, even though recently he has failed in the biggest events.
Thirty-two winless majors, will the 33rd be McIlroy’s lucky charm?
“I felt like coming into this week that was going to be a key for me if I could put the ball in play,” McIlroy said. “You can play from there and create some scoring opportunities.”
With a game plan of putting the ball in play off the tee and attacking from there, in most fans’ eyes, that should be a winning formula.
But with the weather conditions potentially changing and the George Thomas-designed LACC North Course getting harder and faster, finding the fairway and holding greens may not be as simple at it has been over the first two days of benign weather conditions.
If McIlroy does win and adds his fifth major to his resume, it would seemingly go along way for his psyche and could produce a run for a player that is squarely in his prime.
A loss and McIlroy will have to shake it off and move on. It just seems as the losses pile up the chances at victory are fleeting.
“For whatever reason, I went on to YouTube a few weeks ago and was just looking back at like Hoylake in 2014,” McIlroy said. “I actually couldn't believe how many irons and 3-woods and stuff I was hitting off the tee.
"It set something off in my mind about ... you know how to do this. You know how to play smart. You don't have to hit driver all the time. Yes, it's a big weapon, it's a big advantage. But I keep saying I've got more weapons in my arsenal I feel now than I did back then, so I may as well use them and play to them.”