Rory McIlroy came into the U.S. Open at Oakmont struggling to find his best golf, but it seemed for a few hours like his rhythm had shown up just in time.
McIlroy blazed through his first nine holes at golf’s toughest test with a bogey-free 33, leaving him in the top five at 2-under par. Once the Masters champion made the turn, however, all of that good mojo went out the window.
McIlroy started the front nine, his second nine after teeing off on No. 10, with a bogey on the first hole to drop back to 1-under. He then seemed to settle in before disaster struck on the par-5 fourth.
An errant tee shot forced McIlroy to hack out of the thick Oakmont rough three times just to get an approach shot into the fourth green. While the Northern Irishman was able to get up and down, sinking a 30-foot putt to save bogey, the damage was already done.
The five-time major champion never got his mojo back after that disaster on No. 4. He made back-to-back bogeys on the par-3 sixth and the par-4 seventh to drop to 2-over par before the monstrous par-3 eighth got its crack at him.
His tee shot missed the green on the 276-yard par-3, finding the thick stuff. The five-time major winner then failed to advance the ball more than a few feet in Oakmont’s thick rough, and was then seen visibly frustrated slamming his club into the grass.
McIlroy made a double-bogey five on the very long eighth hole to drop to 4-over for the tournament.
A par on the last sent him into the clubhouse with a 6-over 41 on the second nine and a 4-over 74 for the round.
While McIlroy will still be within striking distance of the cut line on Friday, he is in serious jeopardy of his first U.S. Open finish outside of the top 10 since missing the cut back in 2018.
After finishing up, the Northern Irishman opted not to speak to the media.
His rough first round comes on the heels of lackluster performances at the PGA Championship (T-47) and the RBC Canadian Open (missed cut), so this is becoming somewhat of a theme for McIlroy since completing the career Grand Slam at The Masters.
More Golf: Bryson DeChambeau’s Oakmont Frustration Boils Over in Rant at U.S. Open
The post Rory McIlroy Skips Media, Suffers Tragic U.S. Open Finish to Forget appeared first on Newsweek.
