RORY MCILROY BELIEVES he is back to his best after enduring a form slump ahead of his US Open title defence.
World number two McIlroy missed the cut at three successive tournaments before finishing seventh at the PGA Tour’s St Jude Classic.
It was a timely boost for the Northern Irishman, who begins his US Open defence at the Olympic Club, California, tomorrow.
Advertisement
“It’s nice to finally be happy with my game — it felt like I turned a corner last week,” he said. ”I never doubted my ability, everyone goes through periods where they don’t play as well as they would like to.
“I’m playing some good golf again and I’m excited to get going — I can’t wait.”
McIlroy blitzed the field with a 16-under par 268 for his four rounds at the Congressional Country Club last year, the lowest score in the tournament’s 116-year history. He went on the claim top spot in the world rankings earlier this year, before slipping back to second behind Englishman Luke Donald.
“I’ve won some more tournaments since then and I’ve made it to number one in the world so I’ve reached a few of the goals I’ve wanted to accomplish,” he said of the 12 months since his first major championship success.
“Life has changed over the past 12 months but I’m just concentrating on listening to the people I trust around me and believing that I have enough ability and know-how to get through the bad patches.
“I’m just glad that my bad spell didn’t go on too long and I’m now back to something like my usual game — I have lots of positives to take into this week.
“It’s great to be defending the title I won at Congressional but there are a lot of good players in the field and will take a lot of good golf to get that trophy back. I’m trying to be the best golfer I can be, but not let that take over my life.
“I want to do the normal things that a 23-year-old would do and I am finding that increasingly tough, but it’s just something I have to deal with.”
'I can't wait' -- Rory McIlroy confident ahead of US Open defence
RORY MCILROY BELIEVES he is back to his best after enduring a form slump ahead of his US Open title defence.
World number two McIlroy missed the cut at three successive tournaments before finishing seventh at the PGA Tour’s St Jude Classic.
It was a timely boost for the Northern Irishman, who begins his US Open defence at the Olympic Club, California, tomorrow.
“It’s nice to finally be happy with my game — it felt like I turned a corner last week,” he said. ”I never doubted my ability, everyone goes through periods where they don’t play as well as they would like to.
“I’m playing some good golf again and I’m excited to get going — I can’t wait.”
McIlroy blitzed the field with a 16-under par 268 for his four rounds at the Congressional Country Club last year, the lowest score in the tournament’s 116-year history. He went on the claim top spot in the world rankings earlier this year, before slipping back to second behind Englishman Luke Donald.
“Life has changed over the past 12 months but I’m just concentrating on listening to the people I trust around me and believing that I have enough ability and know-how to get through the bad patches.
“I’m just glad that my bad spell didn’t go on too long and I’m now back to something like my usual game — I have lots of positives to take into this week.
“It’s great to be defending the title I won at Congressional but there are a lot of good players in the field and will take a lot of good golf to get that trophy back. I’m trying to be the best golfer I can be, but not let that take over my life.
“I want to do the normal things that a 23-year-old would do and I am finding that increasingly tough, but it’s just something I have to deal with.”
PHOTOS: Rory McIlroy throws ceremonial first pitch at SF Giants game
Woods, Mickelson ready to renew rivalry at US Open
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
All Sports English Golf News PGA Tour Rory McIlroy U.S. Open