McIlroy takes pride from Canadian win; 'Confident' of US Open success

A resurgent Rory McIlroy is confident about the state of his game and his chances of ending his long major drought as he looks to follow his RBC Canadian Open victory with US Open success.

McIlroy came through a final-round tussle with playing partners Justin Thomas and Tony Finau to claim an impressive two-stroke victory in Toronto, his 21st PGA Tour title, with the success lifting him to world No 3 and making him the bookies' favourite for the third major of the year.

No player has won a major the week after a PGA Tour victory since McIlroy achieved successive wins in 2014, although the four-time major champion is hoping to build on his impressive Canadian defence with another strong showing in Brookline.

"It [winning] certainly puts a pep in your step," McIlroy said in his pre-tournament press conference. "It gives you a lot of confidence.

"Going into last week, even coming off Memorial where I didn't have my best week, I still knew my game was there. I still knew that I was playing well so, regardless whether I got, I think it was the fashion in which I won last week was what gave me the most pride.

"Got a lead early in the back nine. Lost that lead. Was tied with two holes to go, and then I showed some really good resilience and birdied the last two holes to get the job done. I think that the fashion in which I won was what made me the proudest of the victory.

"I did the same thing in 2019 going into the US Open at Pebble Beach and played pretty well there. I didn't play well enough to live with Gary [Woodland] that week, but I feel everything is certainly trending in the right direction, and I'm happy with where the game is at."

McIlroy's first major victory came via a record-breaking margin at this event in 2011,