First, he tickled the belly of the beast and then he was introduced to its teeth. If nothing else comes from Rory McIlroy’s trip to the US Open, at least he will have a battle story to tell about Oakmont Country Club.
Will it be shared with the media? We have to wait on that, because for the fifth major round in succession he bolted without saying a word.
But given the tribulations of his opening 74, and indeed his mood of late, that snub was no great shock.
More surprising was the meltdown he incurred on his inward nine, which launched McIlroy from two under par and one off the lead at the turn to four over by the close, eight strokes behind the early clubhouse leader JJ Spaun.
The saving grace is that Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau were only one shot better, providing some comfort in the number of big names brought to their knees.
Brooks Koepka, who closed with back-to-back birdies in a 68, was a notable exception at two under, one ahead of Jon Rahm. The rest of the frontrunners carried smaller profiles, so the proximity of Koepka, perhaps more than anyone else, will cause them anxieties.
Rory McIlroy finished his first round at the US Open with a 74 and has driver issues
JJ Spaun had a superb opening round at Oakmont and finished up at four under par
After missed cuts at the Masters and the PGA Championship, the five-time major champion appears to be firing again.
For McIlroy, the journey from contention to cold shoulders was a messy tale of duffed chips and missed putts, amplified by a new driver that behaved as badly as its recent predecessors.
Even for this place, and for all we have raved about its reputation, a return of four bogeys and a double in the second half of his round was a nasty way to wrap up an afternoon.
With a face like thunder, McIlroy then walked straight past the microphones, presumably in need of a lie down and the sort of inspiration that pulsed through Spaun.
McIlroy defeated Spaun in a play-off to win the Players Championship three months ago, in what became an important staging post in his journey towards that Masters victory. Here, it was Spaun who proved the toughest course in major golf can be navigated without loss of blood as he emerged from the first wave of tee times to set the target at four under.
The world No 25 did not drop a shot in his compilation of a 66. To contextualise the feat, the last time a US Open was played at Oakmont, in 2016, there was only one bogey-free round among the 443 completed.
That belonged to Dustin Johnson, the eventual winner, and so Spaun’s first-round accomplishment warrants great recognition, particularly for the manner in which he missed six greens and scrambled a par each time.
Does Spaun’s score and an uncharacteristic number of other sub-par rounds mean Oakmont is playing slightly easier than normal? Well, that’s like trying to identify differences between a rabid tiger and an angry one.
McIlroy did not show any sign of a revival and battled different elements of his game
For instance, DeChambeau, the defending champion, laboured to a 73 and needed three shots to escape greenside rough at the 12th. He struggled with the pace of the greens for much of the day.
‘Brutal’ was his summary of the conditions and he departed the grounds with a prediction that three under par could be sufficient to win on Sunday.
If the forecasted rains do not materialise over the weekend, he might be proved right on the basis of how firm this track became under a hot sun on Thursday. Assuming the USGA get silly with a few pin positions, because that is their tendency, then a serious amount of whining could be on the horizon from the field.
Scheffler also struggled badly for rhythm. His front nine featured only three pars, with two birdies and four dropped shots. The last of those came at the ninth when he drove into a ditch and could only advance his second stroke 90 yards. The best player in the game managed only 11 greens in regulation and conceded another shot on his way in.
Of those favoured pre-tournament, Shane Lowry had an especially horrible round. Playing alongside McIlroy, he benefitted from a chip-in par on the 17th and an eagle from the fairway on the third and still only managed a 79.
Lowry’s experience was proof of Oakmont’s many challenges – despite hitting an impressive 10 of 14 narrow fairways, thereby avoiding extra time in the five-inch rough, he was trending towards a missed cut, battered by his failure to find greens and an inability to thrive with the putter when he did. When one trip wire is navigated on this course, a dozen more await your next step.
Lowry’s exasperation was best shown when he yanked an on-course microphone from the ground and hurled it as he approached the turn. The third member of that marquee group, Justin Rose, who has been runner up in two of the previous three majors, shot 77 – combined, he, Lowry and McIlroy were 20 over.
So make no mistake, even on a day of modest wind, Oakmont is a brute.
Robert Macintyre is well placed on level par and was the best of the Brits
Of the British interests, Bob MacIntyre is prominent – he closed with a bogey but after hitting 11 of 14 fairways in a level-par 70 he was well placed.
McIlroy? Not nearly so much, which only extends the gloom of his post-Masters lull. Starting on the 10th hole, he opened well with a 30-footer for birdie on the 11th and another stroke followed when he reached the par-five 12th in two.
At that stage, his game from the tee was showing a degree of improvement after switching to his fourth driver configuration in the space of three starts. By the turn, he was also showing plenty of grit, which was necessary because the latest driver had gone cold. He had hit only two fairways but was saving pars.
Alas, it unravelled spectacularly. On the first hole, his 10th, he three-putted back to one under, and on the par-five fourth, the easiest on the card, he drove miles off line to the right, which was his pattern for the day.
Buried in long grass, McIlroy ignored the advice of his caddie, Harry Dimond, who suggested a penalty drop in a better spot, and instead hacked into the grassy face of a bunker. The third shot then travelled barely 15 yards and eventually a 32-footer dropped for a six. It could have been worse.
Difficulties in the sand on the sixth brought McIlroy to one over, a three-putt at the next extended the rut, and the final indignity came on the eighth, an excessively long par three of 300 yards. Taking aim with a three wood, McIlroy sliced into the deep stuff on the right, duffed his pitch and required another three to get down.
The story of his revival might have to wait for a kinder location.
