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OAKMONT, Pennsylvania: Rory McIlroy could leave Oakmont feeling like he accomplished something, even if it took the full four days for him to produce a truly impressive round.
McIlroy shot a 3-under 67 on Sunday, finishing the US Open at 7 over and giving himself a performance he can build off as he works toward the year’s final major — next month’s British Open at Royal Portrush in his home country of Northern Ireland.
“It will be amazing to go home and play in that atmosphere and see a lot of people,” McIlroy said. “I’m really looking forward to it. It was nice to end this week with a bit of a positive note with the way I played today.”
McIlroy skipped talking to the media after his first two rounds this week, and much of his availability Saturday was spent being asked why. His golf was a bigger topic Sunday. It had been unremarkable through three days, but he at least momentarily had Sunday’s low round after finishing with six birdies — four on the back nine.
“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.”
That’s been a theme for McIlroy lately when he has talked. Winning the Masters and completing the career Grand Slam was a seismic moment in his career, and returning to those heights has been a struggle.
“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,” he said. “An Open at Portrush is certainly one of those.”
First, McIlroy has the Travelers Championship in Connecticut next week. And the Scottish Open is a week before Royal Portrush.
In addition to finding motivation, McIlroy has needed to work out some issues on the tee after his driver was deemed nonconforming before the PGA Championship.
In that respect, Oakmont was a step forward — even if at times this week he seemed eager to leave this course behind.
“I feel like I’ve driven the ball well all week,” McIlroy said. “Really encouraged with the driver and how I drove it as well. It’s not necessarily the driver, it’s more me and sort of where my swing was. I feel like I got a really good feeling in my swing with the driver, which was great. Hopefully I can continue that on into next week.”
After the Travelers, a return to the other side of the Atlantic looms, and McIlroy is looking forward to it.
“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. “I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind. I probably haven’t been there the last few weeks.”