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McIlroy owns 39 worldwide professional
victories, 26 of which have come on the PGA Tour, but he cannot
seem to escape questions about his results at golf's blue-riband
events given his last major win came at the PGA Championship in
August 2014.
"I'm really proud of my body of work over the past 15 years and
everything that I have achieved, whether it be season-long
titles or individual tournaments or majors," McIlroy, 35, said
on Tuesday at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.
"Obviously getting my hands on a fifth major has taken quite a
while, but I'm more confident than ever that I'm right there,
that I'm as close as I've ever been."
McIlroy had a close call at ending his major dry spell at last
year's U.S. Open where he finished alone in second place and one
shot back of Wyndham Clark on the North Course at The Los
Angeles Country Club.
While McIlroy fell just short of securing that long-awaited
fifth major his performance in 2023 still marked yet another
positive U.S. Open showing given it was his fifth consecutive
top-10 finish at an event known as the toughest test in golf.
McIlroy said he had a "come-to-Jesus moment" after missing the
U.S. Open cut in 2018 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, where he
went 10 over through two rounds, and has since taken a new
mindset into how he approaches the tournament.
"I would say embracing the difficult conditions, embracing the
style of golf needed to contend at a U.S. Open, embracing
patience. Honestly, embracing what I would have called 'boring'
back in the day," said McIlroy.
"Explosiveness isn't going to win a U.S. Open. It's more
methodically building your score over the course of four days
and being okay with that."
McIlroy will play the first two rounds this week alongside the
year's first two major winners: Masters champion Scottie
Scheffler and PGA Championship victor Xander Schauffele.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in TorontoEditing by Toby Davis) [© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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