McIlroy No Rub of Green

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Rory McIlroy admitted he had doubts over his putting after squandering a number of chances to get back into contention for the US Open in the third round.

The world No 1 was again impressive from tee to green at Chambers Bay, but he needed 31 putts in a frustrating level-par 70 that left him on four over par for the tournament.

McIlroy, who has now had 96 putts over 54 holes, started confidently with the short stick as he holed a great putt for par from 15 feet at the first and nailed another from similar distance for birdie at the second.

He converted another sublime approach at the seventh, but he missed "seven good chances" on the back nine and dropped shots at the 11th and 15th before holing from 12 feet to salvage a par-five at the last.

"I missed seven good chances on the back nine, or seven makeable putts, anyway," said McIlroy, who dropped shots on the 11th and 15th. "It was just nice to see one drop at the last there. I feel like I turned a 65 into a 70 today.

"Whenever you start to miss a couple you start to get a little tentative. You start to doubt yourself. You start to doubt the greens a little bit. And then it just sort of snowballs from there. I holed a few nice ones early on, but once I missed a couple it got into my head and couldn't really get out of it."

Henrik Stenson had likened the greens to putting on broccoli after the second round, but McIlroy joked: "I don't think they're as green as broccoli. I think they're more like cauliflower.

"They are what they are, everyone has to putt on them. It's all mental. Some guys embrace it more than others, and that's really the way it is. It is disappointing that they're not in a bit better shape. But the newer greens like seven and 13, they're perfect.

"I played last Sunday and I felt like they (the USGA) brought it a little too much towards the brink then. And it's always a struggle from then to sort of rein it back little bit. I would have liked to see them keep it a little greener for the practice rounds and then gradually as the tournament progresses get a little firmer.

"That might have kept the greens in a bit better shape, but you never know. I've never been here before, but I hear that the weather isn't always like this. If there had been a little bit of moisture and had it been overcast the greens might not have gotten baked out and as bumpy as they are."

McIlroy admitted he was frustrated to four-putt the 17th and drop another shot on the 18th in his second round, but was happy to have ground out a score after missing the cut in his previous two events.

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Cool Hand Lowry

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Shane Lowry is relishing being in contention for a maiden major title after making the cut in the US Open for the first time.

The Irishman missed the cut at Congressional in 2011 and Pinehurst last year, but he is finding Chambers Bay more to his liking as he added a second round of 70 to his opening 69 to reach one under at the halfway stage.

"I was going along nicely and missed a great chance on 12," Lowry said after a round containing three birdies, one bogey and a double bogey. "I thought if I hit a great putt there to get to three under for the tournament I would have been cruising.

It's a bit early to be talking about winning. There's lots of golf to be played yet, so I need to just keep doing my own thing

"Then I felt I got unlucky on 14 and just pulled my second shot. Got an awful lie in the bunker and ended up making double from there.

"I hit a great shot into 15, great shot into 16 (without making birdie) and made a great putt for par for 17 from 10 feet. That was massive in regards to the whole round and then I went on to birdie the last, which was nice.

"It was one of those days that I'm quite happy with. It could have been a little bit better, but I'm in a great position for the weekend.

"The good thing for me is I'm feeling a bit more comfortable on the greens. Not 100 per cent, but I'm liking what I'm doing and liking the way I'm hitting my putts.

"It's a bit early to be talking about winning. There's lots of golf to be played yet, so I need to just keep doing my own thing. I'm driving the ball well. My iron play is good. My putting is getting to where I want it. You never know what can happen on Sunday.

"I felt quite in control of myself all day yesterday and today. It feels good to be here and feeling like the way I felt the last couple of days.

"I was in control of myself, my emotions and everything. I just need to keep that intact the next few days."

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McIlroy Open US with 72

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Rory McIlroy endured another frustrating day with the putter as he opened his US Open campaign with an erratic two-over 72 at Chambers Bay.

The world No 1 was in good touch from tee to green, but he failed to convert a number of birdie chances as he struggled to get to grips with the mottled putting surfaces.

McIlroy did get an early putt to drop for birdie at the 11th - his second - although he dropped shots at 14 and 15 before getting back to level par with a fine approach at the next and a putt to match.

Several further opportunities went begging as he parred the next eight holes, and his frustration got the better of him when he bogeyed two of the last three to slide seven shots off the lead.

But the 2011 champion refused to blame the poor quality of the green for his performance and insisted the course was set up "fair" for the tournament. 

"They are not the best I have putted on but I should be used to it as the last two tournaments I've played have been just as bad," said McIlroy, who missed the cut in both the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and Irish Open at Royal County Down.

"I felt like I played well tee to green and gave myself a lot of looks but did not take advantage of the good shots I was hitting. There were a couple of misreads and a couple of bad strokes in there as well.

"It's hard to pick the line and trust it and then you start making tentative strokes and you are not getting a true roll on the ball. I need to work on that before tomorrow's round and see if I can figure something out."

McIlroy's Ryder Cup team-mate Henrik Stenson shared the early clubhouse lead with Dustin Johnson after both fired 65s, and the Northern Irishman added: "It was set up fair and you see some of the scores that are already in. There are definitely scores in the mid-60s are out there.

"It re-iterates what I was thinking, which is that you can be very aggressive with your tee shots. It's not a typical US Open where you are playing a game of chess."

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GMAC's Vale of Motivation

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Graeme McDowell has revealed a tough 12 months has seen him questioning his motivation to stay in golf.

The 2010 US Open champion has recorded just one top-10 finish on the European Tour this year and says he struggled for motivation after the birth of his daughter Vale in 2014.

McDowell's victory in 2010 was the first of four wins in the past five years by European players, with fellow Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy and Ryder Cup team-mates Justin Rose and Martin Kaymer following in his footsteps.

I've been wrestling a little bit with my level of motivation the last 12 months with getting married and having a baby and all the exciting things in my life happening," McDowell said ahead of this week's US Open at Chambers Bay.

"I haven't felt the same desire and urge to go out there and grind and practice, and that's affected my game.

"It's one of those things that you never think is going to happen to you, I suppose. But I think when it happens, I think it's important to have a good team of people around you to help you acknowledge it and help you sift through kind of where the problems lie.

"Is it that you don't love the game anymore or is it the fact that you just love being home with the family a bit more than normal? So I think just acknowledging it is obviously a big part of it. It's not fun.

"I obviously haven't enjoyed the season; not playing well, not scoring well, losing a little of confidence and belief. Thinking am I done, finished, washed up? Should I think about getting a new job?

"All these crazy human-instinct thoughts go through your mind and it's just about trying to get back in your processes and trust what you're doing.

"And knowing that it's not necessarily going to happen fast.

"You've got to just dig in and start grinding again and go back to all the things that worked in the past. And just start enjoying the game really.

"It's hard. It's not been fun this year, definitely been one of the tougher seasons in the last seven or eight.

"But I feel like I'm learning a lot from it. Something I've done well in my career to this point is reacting well to the tough years and coming out the other side better and stronger and smarter.

"That's what I'm kind of in right now, I'm in that learning curve and looking forward to being back on the leaderboard very soon."

Asked what other job he could have done, McDowell joked: "I don't know what I'd do. I didn't get my engineering degree, so I can't see me going back to college at this point."

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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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