By Frank Pingue
OAKMONT, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -Rory McIlroy conceded on Tuesday that he did not know how hard it would be to stay motivated after completing a long-sought career Grand Slam at the Masters in April but hopes to hit the reset button in time for this week’s U.S. Open.
McIlroy, speaking to reporters at Oakmont Country Club ahead of Thursday’s opening round, has struggled since the Masters and will need to rediscover both his hunger and form off the tee if he hopes to be in the mix at the year’s third major.
“I’ve always been a player that struggles to play after a big event, after I win whatever tournament,” said McIlroy.
“I always struggle to show up with motivation the next week because you’ve just accomplished something and you want to enjoy it and you want to sort of relish the fact that you’ve achieved a goal.
“Chasing a certain goal for the better part of a decade and a half, I think I’m allowed a little bit of time to relax a little bit. But here at Oakmont, I certainly can’t relax this week.”
In his last two starts, McIlroy finished 47th at Quail Hollow for the PGA Championship, where he struggled off the tee using a backup driver after his preferred one was deemed non-conforming, and missed the cut last week in Canada.
While his recent results are well below the five-times major champion’s expectations, McIlroy knows they came while he was enjoying the fruits of his labour and also feels they ultimately serve a purpose.
“Weeks like Quail Hollow or even weeks like last week, it makes it easier to reset in some way, to be like, okay, I sort of need to get my stuff together here and get back to the process and sort of what I’d been doing for that seven months from October last year until April this year,” said McIlroy.
The Northern Irishman, like everyone in the 156-player field this week, will have his work cut out for him at Oakmont given errant tee shots on the par-70 layout will be swallowed up by penal rough.
During his media availability, McIlroy said he shot an 81 last week at Oakmont after birdies on the final two holes.
“It felt pretty good. It didn’t feel like I played that bad,” said McIlroy.
(Reporting by Frank PingueEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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