Rory McIlroy gains momentum for U.S. Open with strong close at the Memorial
Rory McIlroy did a very Rory McIlroy thing on Sunday at Muirfield Village
By
Kyle Porter
•
2 min read
Death, taxes and Rory McIlroy backdoor top 10s with a Sunday in the 60s that could have probably been better than that. Take all three to the bank. Lock them down. File them away. They're all guaranteed to happen.
On Sunday, it was a McIlroy backdoor top 10 at the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village that caught my eye. McIlroy was actually the leader in the clubhouse for a while as he got around in just 68 strokes to move from outside the top 20 to inside the top 10 when the dust settled.
It's not that he held the lead that intrigued me, though. It's that McIlroy might have found something for the U.S. Open at Oakmont here in two weeks. This isn't unprecedented. Last year, Jordan Spieth fired a 65 on the final day at Muirfield Village (mostly in vain) and went on to win Chambers Bay.
Combine the fact that McIlory switched his putting grip this week (back to right hand low) and drove it like a boss, and we could be in for U.S. Open No. 2 here in a couple of weeks. McIlroy finished in the top five in the field in both strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained putting. How he didn't win after doing that is actually a little bit outrageous.
"I expect a little bit of a tougher test at Oakmont," said McIlroy. "But yeah, I feel like my game's in good shape. Off the tee I was really good this week, and I feel like my putting improved quite a lot. I feel like, if you look at the stats from my putting this week, it's actually been really good. So all things considered, it's been a decent week. Time to get ready for Oakmont in a couple weeks' time."
So he putted great and drove it great. Why didn't he win?
"My iron play hasn't been great," said McIlroy. "I'm just not hitting the ball close enough to the flag with my mid-irons. I need to work on that a little bit, try to shallow out the plane a little bit."
He's spot-on regarding all three of the areas of his game -- driving, irons and putting -- in terms of stats. He drove and putted great and his irons stunk. The most interesting part to me is how well he putted given the grip switch.
McIlroy will actually travel to Oakmont this week for a scouting trip, which is mildly unusual for him. He said on Sunday he's never been there, but he's excited about seeing the track for the first time.
"I'm heading over there tonight," said McIlroy. "I don't really know much about it. I was actually on the USGA website last night looking at the flyovers. It looks like an awesome golf course. It looks unbelievably hard. It'll reward very good ball-striking. It's going to be tough."
If McIlroy putts like he did at Memorial, it might not be as tough as we thought for the four-time major winner.
