OAKMONT, Pa. — Rory McIlroy’s difficult U.S. Open week ended on Sunday with him shooting his best round of the tournament — and the low round of the day — at Oakmont.
And after it was over, a weary McIlroy admitted he needed a breather from it all — at his new home outside of London.
“It’s always nice to get home,’’ he said. “I feel like I live two different lives. I’m a dad and a husband when I’m away from here, and then I’m who I am when I’m here. It’s always nice to get away and feel a bit of normality.’’
That’ll have to wait another week as McIlroy plays the Travelers Championship this week outside of Hartford, Conn.
A year ago, McIlroy skipped the Travelers and got lost by himself in Manhattan for a few days following his devastating U.S. Open loss at Pinehurst. This time, McIlroy is trying to recover from the intensity of what’s come with his Masters victory in April, which completed the career Grand Slam.
His golf since that historic, life-altering victory has been way off. He finished tied for 47th at the PGA Championship and missed the cut at the Canadian Open last week before struggling to make the cut this week at Oakmont.
“We’ve got a lot to look forward to, got our new house in London, play the Scottish [Open] and then obviously The Open at Portrush,’’ he said. “[I’m] just trying to get myself in the right frame of mind to approach that.’’
McIlroy has been transparent about how difficult it’s been to reset and stoke his motivation for tournament golf since achieving such a lofty goal at Augusta.
He hopes the British Open, less than an hour’s drive from where he grew up, will light a fire for him.
“If I can’t get motivated to get up for an Open Championship at home, then I don’t know what can motivate me,’’ he said. “Look, I climbed my Everest in April, and I think after you do something like that you’ve got to make your way back down, and you’ve got to look for another mountain to climb. An Open at Portrush is certainly one of those.
“I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind,’’ he went on. “I probably haven’t been there the last few weeks. But getting home and having a couple weeks off before that, hopefully feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, will get me in the right place again.’’
He left the grounds encouraged by his game, after shooting 67 on Sunday and calling his game “close.’’
“Physically, I feel like my game’s there,’’ he said. “It’s just mentally getting myself in the right frame of mind to get the best out of myself.’’
McIlroy conceded to being emotionally overwhelmed at the 2019 Open at Portrush, where he missed the cut.
“I didn’t realize how emotional I was going to be at Portrush,’’ he said. “I think that was a thing I was unprepared for more than anything else. I remember I hit a shot into 12 or 13 Friday night obviously trying to make the cut. I remember the roar I got when the ball hit the green, and I felt like I was about to burst into tears.
“That support and that love from your own people … I was unprepared for that. I need to just get myself in the right frame of mind to feel those feelings again.”