In two words, Rory McIlroy summed up his first three rounds at the U.S. Open.

“Pretty average,” McIlroy said Saturday after posting a lackluster 4-over-par 74 that left the five-time major champion well out of contention. He carded six bogeys and two birdies on the day, dropping him to 10-over for the tournament.

It marked his second straight letdown at a major since winning the Masters in April, a victory that completed his career grand slam. McIlroy tied for 47th at the PGA Championship last month and since admitted to feeling “a little flat” since his milestone win.

That showed again this week.

“You don’t really know how it’s going to affect you,” said McIlroy, who missed the cut last week at the RBC Canadian Open. “You don’t know how you’re going to react to such a — I wouldn’t say a life-altering occasion — but at least something that I’ve dreamt about for a long time. … I have felt a little flat on the golf course afterwards.”

McIlroy also expressed his “frustration” with the media when he spoke with reporters for the first time since Tuesday. He’d made himself less available for interviews at recent tournaments, starting with the PGA Championship.

“I feel like I’ve earned the right to do whatever I want to do,” said McIlroy, one of the sport’s top names for almost two decades.

He entered the U.S. Open ranked second in the world, but his game never looked the part. He shot 4-over 74 in the first round and 2-over 72 in the second, making the cut by birdying Nos. 15 and 18 on Friday.

The cut line was 7-over.

“It’s much easier being on the cut line when you don’t really care if you’re here for the weekend or not,” McIlroy said laughing. “I was sort of thinking, ‘Do I really want two more days here or not?’ So it makes it easier to play better when you’re in that mindset.”

Yet McIlroy still had his moments Saturday. He stuck his approach shot within 4 feet of the pin on 10, a 452-yard, par 4, made the birdie putt and dropped to 7-over.

On 17, he got up and down from a greenside bunker for birdie, stopping his shot from the sand 14 inches from the hole.

But those successes were undone by late bogeys on 14, 16 and 18. An errant drive on the last hole landed in the gallery, one of the six fairways he missed Saturday.

“You got to be on every single shot,” McIlroy said. “You know if you miss a fairway, you’re going to be scrambling for par. You know if you miss your landing spot even coming from the fairways by a couple yards these greens repel the ball into rough and you’re up against collars, and it just makes things very, very tricky.

“So, yeah, you got to be totally on your game.”

McIlroy had struggled off the tee since his driver reportedly failed USGA testing at the PGA Championship, forcing him to change clubs. He said reports at the time that his driver wasn’t in compliance — violations typically kept confidential — influenced his decision to limit media availability.

This week, McIlroy was leading the field in driving distance at 333.2 yards. Over three rounds, he successfully hit 55% of fairways (23 of 42).

“I’ve driven the ball better,” he said. “I’ve driven the ball as good as I have in a long time, so that’s at least a positive this week.”

Still, his expectations for Sunday weren’t much.

“Hopefully, a round in under four and a half hours,” he said, “and get out of here.”

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