Rory fancies a return to amateur hour
RORY McILROY has vowed to turn the clock back and play with no fear this afternoon as he aims to turn silver into gold on his return to Carnoustie.
McIlroy, right, burst on to the global sporting scene as a tubby teenager 11 years ago when he picked up the silver medal as leading Open amateur at the same course.
The 29-year-old wants to recapture those lost days of innocence and be the kid with the curly mop all over again as he targets the gold medal for the championship winner over the next four days.
“I think sometimes with the pressure that’s maybe put on the top guys to perform at such a high level every week, that starts to weigh on
you a little bit. I look back at those pictures and the more I can be like that kid, the better,” said McIlroy.
“It was my first Open. I was just trying to soak everything in and was just grateful to be here. I was bouncing down the fairways – didn’t care if I shot 82 or 62.
“I think sometimes I need to get back to that attitude where I play carefree and I’m just happy to be here.
“It was nice practising with Jon Rahm because the first instinct he has is get up on a tee box and pull a driver out of the bag. Not think about the trouble.
“I just think as you get a little older, you get more cautious in life. It’s only natural but there is something nice about being young and oblivious to some stuff. The more I can get into that mindset, the better I’ll play golf.
“To already have a Claret Jug is very nice, but obviously I want to add to my collection. It would be nice to win at Carnoustie, where I was able to pick up a silver medal a few years ago.
“There’s so many great players and they’re all playing really good golf at the same time. It’s going to be tough to beat them.”
Jordan Spieth is the defending champion and America’s tubthumper-in-chief Patrick Reed said with the Ryder Cup in mind: “If we can continue our run of winning the big tournaments and keeping them in the States, it’s going to help our psyche.
“It’s also going to hopefully get in the heads of the Europeans a little bit.”