After slumping to ten over par following three frustrating days at the US Open, Rory McIlroy could no longer let his golf do the talking. So having refused to speak to the media after six consecutive rounds at the majors, he said that he had not really cared if he had made the cut or not. His amended ambition for Sunday? “A round in under 4½ hours and get out of here.”
It summed up the puzzling enigma that McIlroy has become since completing the career grand slam at Augusta in April, but a bevy of less-fancied players are relishing the prospect of contending for a major on one of the world’s toughest courses.
While the world’s top ten were a collective 70 over par at the halfway point, Sam Burns reached 54 holes at four under par, a shot clear of an age-defying Adam Scott and JJ Spaun. “I’m pretty happy to be one behind and not sleeping on the lead,” Scott said after a superb round of 67. “This would be huge for me.”
Rolling in the putts and rolling back the years, the popular Aussie has the chance to become the second-oldest US Open champion at 44 and set a record for the longest gap between majors; his first came at Augusta in 2013. Viktor Hovland dropped a shot on the last but played some lustrous irons and is only three off the lead. They are the only men under par.
Nobody has been better here than Scott in terms of consistency — he is the one player with no rounds over par — and the way he salvaged a par from the sand by the 15th, after a lustrous 95-yard wedge ended a few inches from an eagle on the previous hole, was evidence of his talent and temperament. If he lingers, expect the crowd to get right behind him.
Such is the capacity for mayhem of Oakmont, with its dense rough, steep bunkers and slick and sloping greens, that plenty of others will think they can still win. Tyrrell Hatton is one, only five off the top, and Bob MacIntyre is in the top ten.
At the summit, Burns, eighth a year ago, is sharing a house with Scottie Scheffler so did not have far to go for advice on sleeping on a 54-hole major lead. A stuttering Scheffler is eight behind and needing to find his hitherto missing best while hoping his housemate encounters problems.
It is about time Hatton applied some varnish to a shabby major record too. Anyone who can use their irons to such brilliant effect should be in contention more often, and his ability to put tantrums and setbacks behind him could help here. It was a restorative day for him, despite a late double bogey, as he has been struggling off the tee on the LIV circuit. Win here and he will be a fifth LIV champion from the past 12 majors.
Of course, it will not be comfortable for anyone. Oakmont has challenged the best and Matt Fitzpatrick, a player who likes a grind and won the US Open at Brookline in 2022, gave a damning verdict and said the difficulty had actually made it unfair.
“You can be more penalised for hitting a shot six inches off the fairway than you can 40 yards off it,” he said. “And obviously, when you’ve got greens as extreme as these, it amplifies any miss. I get that it’s the same for everyone and you have got to hit good shots, and it always sounds like sour grapes when a player complains. But I’ve played 11 US Opens now and I feel I’ve experienced what is hard and fair and what is hard and unfair. This falls into that category of unfair.”
As for McIlroy, he is clearly struggling for motivation and is still irked that someone leaked news that his driver had been judged “non-conforming” at last month’s US PGA Championship. Most felt that was not a huge deal, but wanted to know if changing to a back-up had explained his errant driving at Quail Hollow. He admitted the leak was only part of it.
Having bogeyed the last hole at Oakmont for a round of 74, he was never going to be in Tigger mode, but he did stop for his first post-round major interview since winning the Masters. “You don’t really know how it’s going to affect you,” he said of his victory at Augusta. “You don’t know how you’re going to react to something [you’ve] dreamt about for a long time, and I have felt a little flat on the golf course.”
He showed some fight to make the cut on Friday but laughed about the methodology involved. “It’s funny. It’s much easier being on the cut line when you don’t really care if you’re here for the weekend or not. It makes it much easier to play when you’re in that mindset.” His assessment of his US Open so far was “pretty average,” but he said he had driven the ball as well as he had for a long time.
Eventually, McIlroy was asked why he had snubbed the media for six rounds. Was it frustration with the golf course? “Not, not really,” he said. “It’s more frustration with you guys.”
Given that McIlroy has given more of himself and his thoughts than almost any other player, this was uncharacteristic touchiness. He stressed that he had skipped media sessions before. “That [the driver story] was part of it, but it’s not out of the ordinary. I’ve done it before. I’m just doing it more often. I feel I’ve earned the right to do whatever I want to do.”
Hindsight has not yet been kind to the notion that McIlroy would be unburdened after ticking off the grand slam. The pressure is off, but recent evidence suggests McIlroy is better when that is not the case.
For Burns, Scott, Spaun and those eyeing a golden major Sunday, the heat is very much on.
