KIDS STUFF FOR RORY
Mcilroy is taking a carefree approach
RORY MCILROY was a carefree kid when he coasted to the US Open at Congressional to claim his first Major title.
A decade on, the Ulster ace is aiming to roll back the years and make Torrey Pines look like child’s play this week.
Mcilroy feels his game is back in the groove and he is determined not to get too serious on the course as he aims to add to his four Major crowns.
The 32-year-old has not landed one of golf’s big prizes for seven years but he reckons treating the tournament like he did when he was a youngster is the key to glory in California.
He will play alongside world No.1 Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose, with Mcilroy planning to rock up like a rookie again for today’s opening round.
“It’s about going out there and playing as free as I can and having that mentality that I had as a 22-year-old and just trying to get into that mindset,” he said.
“The 2011 US Open was only my third one, and I played okay at Bethpage in ’09, I missed the cut at Pebble in ’10.
“There was probably a little less going on in my head, I guess, is the best way to describe it. Probably less cynical too.
“Sometimes I think you can sort of get into that mindset coming into US Opens.
“The first time I laid my eyes on Congressional, I could see myself shooting scores out here. It’s the same as here.
“You hit fairways, you hit greens, and you can shoot good scores.
“It’s just a matter of getting into a little more of a positive mindset going into the tournament.”
Mcilroy reckons he knows how to do it. “I guess by being indifferent,” he said. “Not by not caring, but by not putting myself under pressure that I have to care, I guess is the right way to do it.
“If I went out and played this golf course any other week, you play free, and it’s just the same thing.
“You just have to be able to swing with that freedom, and that’s sort of what I’m trying to get back to.
“That’s the big challenge, but it’s definitely heading in the right direction.”
Mcilroy feels his game is in good shape and he has arrived in San Diego under the radar with the ongoing feud between Brooks
Koepka and Bryson Dechambeau hogging the attention.
But the Northern Ireland star did weigh in to one of the game’s hot topics – by claiming controversial green books have made players lazy and should be banned. He said: “Reading greens is a real skill that some people are better at than others, and it just nullifies that advantage that people have. It’s made everyone lazier. “Everyone’s in the same boat. If it’s going to be available to us and it helps us, people are going to use it.
“But for the greater good of the game, I’d like to see them be outlawed.
“The game is in a pretty good place. There’s a couple of little things us golf nerds want changed.”