Rory McIlroy is brushing off his performance in the past few weeks as he prepares to face Oakmont.

McIlroy missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open last week, and he finished tied for 47th place at the PGA Championship in May after his driver failed USGA testing. That came after he completed the career grand slam by becoming the first Irish golfer to win the Masters in April.

This week, McIlroy is seeking to join the six golfers who have won the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year, and he is not concerned with how he has played recently.

“I think I’ve always been a player that struggles to play after a big event, after I win whatever tournament,” McIlroy said after playing a practice round Tuesday. “I always struggle to show up with motivation the next week because you’ve just accomplished something, and you want to enjoy it and you want to sort of relish the fact that you’ve achieved a goal.”

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— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) June 10, 2025

Despite winning the FedEx Cup in 2016, the 36-year-old McIlroy struggled in the U.S. Open at Oakmont. He missed the cut, shooting 77 in the first round and 71 in the second to end up 8-over-par.

“Yeah, don’t really remember much about 2016. I think I just tried to erase it from the memory bank. Then yeah, look, it’s Oakmont,” McIlroy said. “Even though (golf course architect Gil Hanse) has come in here and done his thing, it’s still a big brute of a golf course, and you’re going to have to have your wits about you this week all the way throughout the bag, off the tee, into the greens, around the greens.”

McIlroy won his first and only U.S. Open in 2011 at Congressional Country Club, and he has three wins in 2025 to go with five top-10 finishes.

McIlroy had built a reputation for excelling on soft, slow courses, which Congressional was in 2011. But he has grown his game over the years on his way to becoming more well-rounded and the No. 2 player in the World Golf Rankings.

“As you’ve seen since 2019, six top 10s in a row at this tournament, obviously finished second the last two years in a row, and I’ve definitely become a much more confident U.S. Open player,” McIlroy said. “And I’m way more comfortable on those firm, fast setups like you saw at Pinehurst last year and (Los Angeles Country Club) the year before that. Obviously, the U.S. Open went from probably my least favorite major to probably my favorite because of what it asks from you, and I love that challenge.”

McIlroy remained optimistic after shooting an 81 during a June 2 scouting trip at Oakmont. He believed the conditions then made playing the notoriously difficult course even tougher.

“This morning, it felt it was a little softer. The pins aren’t going to be on 3 or 4% slopes all the time,” McIlroy said. “If you put it in the fairway, it’s certainly playable. But then you just have to think about leaving your ball below the hole and just trying to make as many pars as you can.”

McIlroy made headlines at the PGA Championship when he skipped all of his scheduled interviews after the USGA leaked news about his driver being nonconforming.

Since then, McIlroy has struggled off the tee with his new TaylorMade driver, which has contributed to his rough performances in his last two tournaments. McIlroy improving his driving will be key for him to potentially take his second U.S. Open championship.

“The last two champions here did lead the field in driving distance,” McIlroy said. “I watched quite a lot of 2016 over the weekend and just tried to get a feel for how the leaders played this golf course and what they did that I certainly didn’t do over the first two days. … So I think there’s different styles of games that can win here, but I certainly think that distance is never a disadvantage, and especially on this golf course. But you want to combine distance with accuracy this week. That’s the recipe.”

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