'I climbed my Everest in April, and have to look for another mountain to climb'
RORY MCILROY BELIEVES next month's Open Championship at Portrush will provide the motivation and focus he needs in the wake of his astonishing Masters triumph in April.
McIlroy's post-Masters form has not been as serene as expected: instead he barely made the cut at the PGA Championship, did not play the weekend at the Canadian Open, and was again a long way from contending at this week's US Open at Oakmont. All of this has been scored to a curiously surly tone, as he declined all media requests during the PGA Championship, breaking his silence last night in a moody, low-energy huddle with journalists.
But speaking after an impressive closing round of 67 at Oakmont today, McIlroy threw his focus forward to Portrush and admitted he is searching for motivation.
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'Look, I climbed my Everest in April, and I think after you do something like that, you've got to make your way back down, and you've got to look for another mountain to climb', said McIlroy. 'An Open at Portrush is certainly one of those.'
McIlroy continued, 'If I can't get motivated to get up for an Open Championship at home, then I don't know what can motivate me. Yeah, as I said, I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind. I probably haven't been there the last few weeks.'
The biggest technical issue in McIlroy's game in recent weeks has been his driving, to the point he changed his driver ahead of this week's championship. It worked, as McIlroy said he felt much better off the tee this week, admitting the missing piece in his game at the moment is that which sits between the ears.
'I feel like I've driven the ball well all week', said McIlroy. 'After the way I drove it today, I'd say I finished in the top five in strokes gained off the tee. Really encouraged with the driver and how I drove it as well.
'It's not necessarily the driver, it's more me and where my swing was. I feel like I got a really good feeling in my swing with the driver, which was great. Hopefully I can continue that on into next week. Yeah, it's close, as I said. Physically I feel like my game's there. It's just mentally getting myself in the right frame of mind to get the best out of myself.'
McIlroy ended a difficult week on the course with an excellent, six-birdie 67, the only of his four rounds under par.
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