‘Stoic’ Rory McIlroy sits atop U.S. Open leaderboard focusing on playing major-winning golf above all else

PINEHURST, NC – Rory McIlroy isn’t at 2 Pinehurst to socialize. That happened over the first three days of this week and further crystallized on Thursday night when McIlroy opened the 2024 U.S. Open with a bogey-free 65. That’s good enough to co-lead the event with his Ryder Cup rival Patrick Cantlay after 18 holes. of game.

McIlroy’s personal life has lately been more public than he would like, as it was announced shortly before the PGA Championship that he was getting a divorce. This week at the US Open, it was announced that he and his wife had reconciled and would remain together.

Whether for that reason or another, he has been exceptionally tight-lipped during his time at Pinehurst about anything and everything as he attempts his fifth career major championship and first in nearly 10 years. The normally chatty and jovial Ulsterman wasn’t obnoxious or surly, but he was certainly shorter and less willing to divulge information about his game or otherwise.

The result in Round 1 is something else that is also unusual for McIlroy: opening a major with a bogey-free round. McIlroy’s results in doing so were excellent.

The word that came to mind as McIlroy ran through Pinehurst alongside the guy everyone was chasing, Scottie Scheffler, was sensible. He hit sensible shots, didn’t hit too aggressive lines and played in the middle of the greens, making 15 of 18 in regulation.

“I think I’m super conservative with my strategy and my game,” he said of his plan.

If he continues to keep his head like this, McIlroy will certainly win his long-awaited fifth major on Sunday night. His touch on the greens and his lag putting were even, until late in the round when he made a birdie putt so early on the 18th that it would have been fair to laugh out loud.

“I thought I left it short,” he said. “That’s why I quit. Full disclosure. But it felt good.”

It looked good. The same happened with everything else. During a practice round Wednesday with Martin Kaymer, who won the U.S. Open at Pinehurst when it was last held here in 2014, McIlroy sometimes got within 40 or 50 yards of him. He’s complaining about the ball, but also staying almost completely out of trouble. He also hit 11 of 14 fairways on Thursday. This is always a good formula.

McIlroy is also playing golf. High irons when the moment calls for it, but also spinning chips, bumps and runs and that rolling, low-hook movement that has “major championship golf” written all over it.

Rory’s game is sharp, but that has rarely been the problem with him in the majors. Despite five consecutive top 10s at the US Open, her hurdles over the past 10 years at the Big Four have apparently been more mental and emotional.

McIlroy is the rare reflective athlete who expends a lot of energy in many areas outside of his own game. He gives a lot of himself, often, to many different people.

It’s unknown whether his current personal issues were the reason for him to step back and turn inward a bit this week, but what is undeniable is that he hasn’t put as much time, thought or effort into anything other than golf. That’s his prerogative, of course, but perhaps it’s the best way to invest his energy.

It’s also just… different from your standard arrangement.

Even watching the post-round press conference, after playing one of the best important rounds of his career, it can be said that McIlroy is acting more reserved. He is giving less. In fact, that’s at least part of the plan for this week, he said Thursday.

“I think with my behavior, I’m just trying to be super stoic,” McIlroy explained. “I’m just trying to be as balanced as possible. I really feel like that’s what has served me well at these U.S. Opens the last few years. Just trying to be 100% committed to shooting and 100% committed to having a good attitude.”

Rory is apparently always at odds with himself when it comes to this arena. The juxtaposition is this: he is not a born killer. The boorish sports superstar who boasts as the baddest guy on property isn’t really McIlroy the person. He is at odds with his humanity and his desire to please everyone in his orbit.

But perhaps the idea of ​​a benevolent, ever-generous McIlroy is at odds with being a great champion at this stage in his career.

Because of this constant war, the burden of being Rory McIlroy is more complicated than it seems and heavier than that of other stars. That’s why Rory is loved, of course, but it could also be why he’s gone 0-for-36 in the majors since last winning in 2014.

McIlroy is, strangely enough, a superstar who embodies humanity. There is no one else like him.

He insisted Thursday that he is no different as a person than he was a year ago, when he nearly won the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. That may be true, but it is clearly behaving differently. The reason behind this is ambiguous, but the result – at least over 18 holes – is undeniable.

With a US Open and his big drought on the line, McIlroy turned inward, became stoic and focused on himself. For someone who has given so much, in so many ways, over such a long period of time, this is incomprehensible… and admirable.

It might even be the formula he needs to finally break what must seem like the longest streak in golf.

Rick Gehman, Patrick McDonald and Greg DuCharme recap the opening round of the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Follow along and listen to The First Cut at Apple Podcasts It is Spotify.