Rory US Open Ready

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Rory McIlroy believes spending three days in London as a tourist has helped prepare him mentally for his bid to win a second US Open title this week at Chambers Bay.

The world No 1 goes into the second major of 2015 off the back of two consecutive missed cuts at Wentworth in the BMW PGA Championship and at the Irish Open.

Despite his dip in form after winning two of his previous four tournaments, the 26-year-old appears relaxed in Washington after a low-key build-up to the tournament.

McIlroy is looking for a fifth major after claiming his first in the same event at Congressional in Maryland four years ago.

He said: "I had commitments with Nike on the Monday after (the Irish Open). I did some biomechanical testing on the Tuesday.

“My trainer Steve (McGregor) was over on Wednesday so we did a couple of sessions and then I went to London on Thursday for a few days.

“I was a tourist for three days, went to the London Eye, did a lot of walking, which I didn't know was a great preparation for this place. I think I walked about 10 miles a day so that helped.

“That got me in the right frame of mind. I obviously didn't want to miss those two cuts in Europe, but I think that's just the way I'm going to be.

“I'd rather in a six-tournament period have three wins and three missed cuts than six top-10s. Volatility in golf is actually a good thing. If your good weeks are really good, it far outweighs the bad weeks.”

Perhaps ominously for McIlroy is the fact he has compared the hard and fast conditions at Chambers Bay with Muirfield when it served as the venue for the Open in 2013.

Back then, the Northern Irishman missed the cut at a time when he was struggling to adapt to new clubs following his switch to Nike but is confident of performing better this week.

He added: “I'm a completely different player. I'm in a completely different place. I had no control of my golf game at that point in time and I feel like I'm pretty much in full control of it at the minute.

"I can tell you a repeat of that is definitely not going to happen. Chambers Bay plays more like a links course than some links courses. It's so fast, so firm.

“It reminds me of 2013 at Muirfield and '06 at Hoylake when Tiger (Woods) won. The course is getting burned out.”

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DDF Irish Open - Tee Times

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Rory McIlroy will play with Rickie Fowler and Martin Kaymer in the pick of the draw at the Irish Open.

Walker Cup rivals turned Major rivals, Fowler and McIlroy, who is largely responsible for the stellar names littering the draw at Royal County Down, will tee off at 8am on Thursday.

They will be following another home favourite Graeme McDowell, who has been grouped with Miguel Angel Jimenez, fresh from his second place finish in the PGA Championship at Wentworth, and England’s Lee Westwood.

There is little love lost between three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia and the two will start together from the 10th tee along with 2014 winner Mikko Ilonen at 12.50pm.

Shane Lowry returned to form at Wentworth, finishing tied for sixth place and a shot behind Francesco Molinari, and the two tee off at 1pm on Thursday with big Ernie Els.

Elsewhere, Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke has been drawn with Luke Donald and Danny Willett, while Wentworth winner Byeong Hun An isjoined by Victor Dubuisson and Tommy Fleetwood.

Selected tee times:

07:40 Darren CLARKE Luke DONALD Danny WILLETT

07:50 Graeme MCDOWELL Lee WESTWOOD Miguel Angel JIMÉNEZ

08:00 Martin KAYMER Rory MCILROY Rickie FOWLER

08:10 Michael HOEY Stephen GALLACHER Marc WARREN

08:20 Matteo MANASSERO Kevin PHELAN George COETZEE

08:30 Paul MCGINLEY Paul LAWRIE Robert KARLSSON

08:40 Tyrrell HATTON Peter UIHLEIN Chris WOOD

08:50 Chris DOAK Ricardo GONZALEZ John G KELLY

12:30 Damien MCGRANE Thorbjørn OLESEN Alexander LEVY

12:40 James MORRISON Anirban LAHIRI Thongchai JAIDEE

12:50 Padraig HARRINGTON Mikko ILONEN Sergio GARCIA

13:00 Ernie ELS Shane LOWRY Francesco MOLINARI

13:10 Victor DUBUISSON Tommy FLEETWOOD Byeong Hun AN

13:20 Pablo LARRAZÁBAL Andy SULLIVAN Bernd WIESBERGER

13:30 Marcel SIEM Kiradech APHIBARNRAT Ross FISHER

13:40 Peter HANSON Nicolas COLSAERTS David HOWELL

13:50 Peter LAWRIE Romain WATTEL Richie RAMSAY

14:00 Steve WEBSTER Alex NOREN Simon THORNTON

14:10 Mike LORENZO-VERA Robert DINWIDDIE Gavin MOYNIHAN (AM)

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Rory McIlroy Cut at Wentworth

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Rory McIlroy limped to a disappointing early exit from the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth after missing the halfway cut by four shots.

The world No 1 again looked out of sorts and short on energy as he stuttered to an error-strewn second-round 78 featuring six bogeys and a double-bogey at the 11th, finishing well down the field on five over par.

Playing the fourth of five tournaments in succession, McIlroy had admitted he was mentally fatigued following his opening 71 which was littered with frustrated outbursts, including hurling his three-wood away in disgust at the 17th which could incur a fine from the European Tour.

Despite having a later tee time for day two, McIlroy was clearly still suffering the effects of his busy schedule and, after opening with a pair of pars, he found three bunkers on the third hole alone before salvaging a bogey with an excellent up-and-down.

McIlroy dropped another shot at the fifth, although he gave himself a lift with a birdie at the eighth before making a torrid start to the back nine. He followed a bogey at 10 with an ugly six at the 11th after another wayward tee shot forced him to take an unplayable lie, and he then hooked his third into the crowd and hit a spectator.

He bunkered another errant drive at the 13th and again failed to save par, and his shoulders sagged further after another bogey at 16 ended any slim hopes of being around for the weekend.

A birdie at 17 was scant consolation, and his performance was summed up at the last when he sculled his second from the left rough to short of the green, pitched 15 feet past the flag and three-putted to close with a six.

McIlroy had not missed a cut in a European Tour event since last June's Irish Open, a tournament he is hosting next week at Royal County Down before he takes a well-earned break prior to preparing for next month's US Open at Chambers Bay.

"I'm not going to read too much into it," he said afterwards. "It was inevitable at some point the run was going to come to a bit of an end. I am back to my usual at Wentworth! It was not great before last year and it has not been great this year.

"I think it was a bit of mental fatigue, especially when I was trying to muster up a few birdies coming down the back nine. I just couldn't get anything going. I would much rather be here for the weekend but if any good comes of this I have a couple of days over the weekend to refresh myself and I will be okay for next week.

"I'm not angry, just a little disappointed I'm not going to be here for the weekend. But coming off the back of three good weeks in the States, I'm probably in need of a rest. I'd rather still be here, but it's not all bad getting to go home for the weekend.

"Any time you're defending a title, you want to come back and give it a valiant effort. This week wasn't really that, but I'll dust myself off and get ready for a big week next week at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open."

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McIlroy Admits Club Troubles

Rory McIlroy has finally admitted it took him far longer than expected to adjust to his new clubs after his much-publicised equipment change in early 2013.

The world No 1 signed a lucrative endorsement deal with Nike at the end of a successful 2012 campaign in which he won his second major at the PGA Championship and topped the world rankings as well as money lists on both the European and PGA Tours.

But his form took an alarming dip throughout the following year, although he was reluctant to blame his change of club manufacturer as he insisted issues off the course were primarily to blame as he tumbled out of the world's top 10.

The 25-year-old almost went through 2013 without a victory, but gave himself a huge confidence boost after snatching the Australian Open title ahead of Adam Scott in December.

McIlroy's win at Royal Sydney gave him momentum going into this year, and he enjoyed the best season of his career as he collected two majors, his first WGC title and firmly established himself as the best golfer on the planet.

"The Australian win at the end of a very lean 2013 was a welcome bit of form," said McIlroy after being named Sportsman of the Year by Reuters. "It was the coming together of some hard work on many aspects of my game and becoming completely comfortable with the club changes I'd made.

"I then had the confidence to get the job done. I'd say it was worth the wait to get things properly in place. The major wins were really a continuation of that process.

"And, of course, hugely important, satisfying and evidence that I could win majors when I had to dig deep, rather than by comfortable margins. But don't get me wrong. I've nothing against a comfortable margin."

McIlroy also believes his improved maturity and mental strength contributed largely to his remarkable form over the last 12 months, and he is looking forward to keeping his world No 1 status for some time to come.

"With my swing, clubs and fitness in place, I feel confident enough to go out and win"

"Two years on tour is quite a long time, even as a 25-year-old," he added. "I also think my game and mental approach are in many ways linked. With my swing, clubs and fitness in place, I feel confident enough to go out and win.

"Perhaps a lot of the maturity is just an extended learning curve, with each experience, good or bad, another lesson in patience, course management and knowing when, or when not, to take a risk."

As well as his individual success during the year, McIlroy also produced one of the greatest Ryder Cup performances in history in the singles at Gleneagles as he romped to a 5&4 victory over close friend Rickie Fowler.

'Confidence'

McIlroy raced out of the blocks with four birdies and an eagle over the first six holes, and Fowler had no answer to the all-round quality of the world No 1.

"That was really down to a confidence thing," McIlroy said. "I'd been playing really well, my swing was in great shape and I felt I knew what I needed to do to get a win on the board - get off to a fast start.

"The early birdies that day came as a result of some excellent driving, which effectively took any trouble out of the equation on the opening holes and allowed me relatively easy approaches.

"I thought that if I was well under par by the turn I would be difficult to catch."

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