Rory McIlroy embroiled in war of words
RORY McILROY has hit back at suggestions he was “bored” with golf after missing the cut in the US Open for the second year in succession.
McIlroy birdied four of his last six holes at Erin Hills to improve seven shots on his opening 78, but still missed the halfway cut by four shots.
That appeared to prompt 1995 US PGA champion Steve Elkington to write on Twitter: “Rory is so bored playiing golf... without Tiger Woods the threshold is prolly 4 majors with 100mill in bank”.
But that was met with a swift response from McIlroy who wrote “More like 200mil... not bad for a “bored” 28- yearold... plenty more where that came from” and posted a screenshot of his Wikipedia entry which lists some of his achievements in the game.
McIlroy won the US Open with a record 16- under- par total in 2011 and claimed his second Major title in the US PGA the following year. The Northern Irishman then won the Open Championship and US PGA in 2014, meaning he needs to win the Masters to become only the sixth player in history to complete a career Grand Slam.
A rib injury restricted McIlroy to just six tournaments before the US Open, but he plans to play in next week’s Travelers Championship and the Irish Open, Scottish Open and Open Championship in successive weeks in July.
Meanwhile, England’ s Tommy Fleetwood was relaxed about sharing the lead at the halfway stage of the US Open as the absence of some of golf’s biggest names had set up an intriguing weekend at Erin Hills.
Fleetwood, who had made just one cut in his previous seven majors, birdied the last to add a 70 to his opening 67 to finish seven- under- par for 36 holes alongside compatriot Paul Casey, Brooks Koepka and Brian Harman.
With the cut falling at one over par, the
entire field was separated by just eight shots – but for the first time since the rankings were introduced in 1986, none of the world’s top three would be around for the weekend.
Jason Day’s second-round 75 left him 10 over, while world No. 1 and defending champion Dustin Johnson finished fourover to join McIlroy in missing out.
Fleetwood was a lowly 188th in the rankings last September, but has reaped the rewards of returning to his former coach Alan Thompson and employing his friend Ian Finnis as his caddie.
The 26- year- old from Southport, who finished a shot ahead of Johnson to claim his second European Tour title in Abu Dhabi in January, said before teeing off for yesterday’s third round: “It’s going to be great.
“I’ve never done this before. I’ve never a led US Open, so it will be a very cool
experience. It’s still Saturday, 36 holes is a very long time in a US Open.
“There are always ups and downs out there. But I think with how long the course is and how long the days are, I won’t worry.”
Speaking about the changes he made last year, Fleetwood added: “I went back to my old coach and had one of my best mates caddying and I think that can’t be underestimated, having your friend with you, whether you’re leading the US Open or playing a casual round at home.
“I think those two things and a lot of hard work have got me here really. I think it’s easy to lose track. It’s very easy to take off on your own path, and before you know it, you’re too far down there and it’s a long way back.
“We have come back sooner than I thought, so that’s been nice really.”