a day ago
'It's nice to be able to accept adulation, even though I struggle with it at times'
THE FIRST DAY'S worth of Rory Spotters at Royal Portrush had to be early risers.
Having finished in a tie for second at the Scottish Open yesterday evening, McIlroy dashed straight from the course to the Antrim coast, getting into his accommodation around 1am. He reconciled himself to four hours' sleep before heading for Royal Portrush, in a bid to get in as much preparation as he could before the descent of the madding crowds.
He got through a full 18 holes, and was only truly spotted on the course as he started his second nine, and stopped to sign autographs as he left the final green.
Among the quiet rumours cast out like fishing bait to explain McIlroy's sullen humour at the PGA Championship in May was a sense he had been unhappy with his preparation: a forsaken night's sleep was his means of addressing the same this week. 'The last couple of majors, at the PGA and the U.S. Open, the practice rounds took so long', said McIlroy at his pre-tournament press conference, its Monday afternoon scheduling another instance of his getting his work out of the way early.
'I feel like there's 50 people inside the ropes all the time. I feel like I just can't get good work done, good preparation. I didn't come up here ahead of time to try to get a couple of practice rounds in, so I just wanted to get out early, sort of beat the rush, beat the crowd, and do my work with not a lot of people around.'
He was rewarded for his early start: McIlroy was done and dusted by the time play suspended owing to a local thunderstorm.
While Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler have recently challenged McIlroy's status as the crowd favourite Stateside, Rory is undoubtedly the star attraction this week; back in a town lined with people eager to touch the hem of his green jacket.
Advertisement
This early start is a sign of how McIlroy has sought to navigate that adulation, which he knows is one of his biggest challenges of the week.
McIlroy infamously missed the cut when the Open was last held in Portrush six years ago, making a baffling quadruple bogey on the first hole, taking a driving iron off the tee and going out of bounds nonetheless. His early radar had been walloped askew by the punch of noise that greeted him on the way to the first tee.
'The walk to the first tee and then that ovation, I was still a little surprised and a little taken aback, like 'Geez, these people really want me to win'', said McIlroy.
'I think that brought its own sort of pressure and more internally from myself and not really wanting to let people down. I guess it's just something I didn't mentally prepare for that day or that week.
'But I learned pretty quickly that one of my challenges, especially in a week like this, is controlling myself and controlling that battle. I talked about it at the Masters on that last day. The battle on that last day wasn't with Augusta National. It wasn't with Bryson. It wasn't with Justin Rose. The battle that day was with myself.'
McIlroy searches for his ball on the first hole of the 2019 Open. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo
And so he's got a second chance this week to figure out how to deal with the pressure that comes with adoration.
'I think in '19 I probably tried to isolate', continued McIlroy, 'and I think it's better for everyone if I embrace it. I think it's better for me because it's nice to be able to accept adulation, even though I struggle with it at times.
'But it's also nice for the person that is seeing you for the first time in a few years. It just makes for a better interaction and not trying to hide away from it.
'I think it's more of an embrace everything that's going to come my way this week and not try to shy away from it or hide away from it, and I think that'll make for a better experience for everyone involved.'
McIlroy's other major hurdle to overcome in recent weeks has been his post-Masters hangover. He admitted to struggling for motivation in the weeks after that wild triumph, but he says a small break and a skip across the Atlantic has helped him to reset. Though he came up short to American Chris Gotterup in Scotland yesterday, it was his first Sunday truly in contention since the Masters, and since missing the cut at the Canadian Open he has finished T19 at the US Open and T6 at the Travelers' Championship.
'I've alluded to this, but I probably just didn't give myself enough time to let it all sink in', he said. 'But that's the nature of professional golf. They do a very good job of keeping you on the hamster wheel, and you feel like it's hard to get off at times.
'I sort of approached last week and this week as a 14-day chunk of getting some really good work in, especially last week: this is your time to lock in for two weeks and do everything that you need to do, and then reset again and then try and build myself back up for the Ryder Cup.'
At one point during his press conference, a journalist alluded to McIlroy's Masters triumph and said the pressure is now off.
' Is it?', interjected McIlroy. 'Is the pressure off?'
It never is.
