U.S. Open preview: Realistic McIlroy braces for ‘toughest test in golf’ (TV: TSN4, 5:30 p.m.)
Trepidation. It’s the feeling of fear that causes one to hesitate, thinking something bad or unpleasant is going to happen.
It’s also the one-word answer used by Rory McIlroy, the 2011 U.S. Open champion and third-ranked golfer in the world, to describe the prevailing emotion for players heading into the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.
“This week it’s definitely — it’s not excitement,” McIlroy said. “I mean, it’s definitely not that.”
No, Oakmont elicits reactions on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum.
“It’s going to be quite the mental grind,” McIlroy said after his second practice round. “You expect that coming into a U.S. Open. It’s the toughest test in golf, and you know that, and you have to do everything you can to prepare for that and try to do your best.”
The list of past winners at Oakmont reads like a who’s who of the game’s best players of the past century: Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Johnny Miller, Ernie Els.
The course’s history and playing conditions are why McIlroy described a potential victory Sunday as perhaps the greatest achievement of his career.
“To be able to win on a course like this with the conditions the way they are, it would probably be my . . . biggest accomplishment in the game. But (it) definitely would make me feel like a more complete player.”
McIlroy owns the U.S. Open record for lowest score, from his four-day, 16-under-par performance at Congressional Country Club in 2011. That kind of score won’t happen at Oakmont, where the most recent Open in 2007 featured a winning score of five over.
McIlroy stressed the importance of stringing together pars and picking up a birdie or two “here and there.” The course will require mental fortitude and tactile precision (to avoid the thick rough and bunkers) to make it atop the leader board.
“You can’t slap it around here,” he said. “You have to hit good shots. You just have to be so disciplined and just plot your way around the golf course.”
Part of the 27-year-old Northern Irish golfer’s plan is to use the grandstands and TV towers to his advantage. He’ll identify them as directional targets, a luxury he said the club’s members don’t have.
For example, on hole 16, regardless of the pin placement, McIlroy will hit toward the two TV towers in an attempt to land the ball “seven or eight paces” on the green. Even if he leaves the ball short of the hole, he’d prefer a 30-foot putt uphill rather than an 8-foot put downhill.
It’s an approach that requires a balancing act between discipline, aggression, analytics and, sometimes, blind faith.
“I think you just have to be really disciplined and trust the numbers and trust that you could go a whole round here without hitting it at any pin,” McIlroy said. “I’m an aggressive player as well. So there’s just going to be times where I’m going to have to rein it back a little bit.”
That give and take is a prerequisite for him to take home the trophy for a second time. After turning pro in September 2007, three months after Angel Cabrera won the Open at Oakmont, McIlroy began his ascent to becoming one of those established, highly ranked players.
Only Jason Day and Jordan Spieth rank ahead of the two-time PGA player of the year and he believes he’s ready to face the 72-hole giant that awaits him Thursday.
“I feel as prepared as I can be coming in here, and I feel like I’ve got a good game plan for the course,” McIlroy said. “It’s just a matter of going out there and executing it.”