Rory McIlroy aims to banish US Open blues at testing Troon

Between Tiger Woods' withering put-down of Colin Montgomerie and Rory McIlroy’s press conference at which the subject rarely strayed from his crushing US Open disappointment, there’s been less spoken about what might unfold on the golf course over the next four days at Royal Troon than your average major championship week - if there is such a thing.

And that is not entirely unexpected on this somewhat underestimated test on the Open rota.

"There aren’t too many chances out there," said Shane Lowry, the last Irish winner of the Open in 2019 at Royal Portrush.

"If we get the wind that’s forecast, I think it will play very difficult. It’s a hard course to see your way around and I’ve been struggling a little bit (in practice) this week," he confessed.

"I feel that it’s the best bunkered course we play and it’s a great sign when there are two or three of you on the tee and no one knows what club to hit," he laughed.

Lowry was in relaxed form when he chatted with media this week and with good reason. He’s confident in the state of his game right now and yet also aware of not quite knowing what to expect each week.

"It’s been good this year – my best season on the PGA Tour so far (up to this point of the season). But golf’s a funny game. In the last two months I’ve had two 62’s and an 85 so you can never take anything for granted."

"The good times don’t last forever but neither do the bad times and you’ve just got to ride the wave when you’re playing well and I feel like I’m playing OK right now. I’m really happy where my game is at."

McIlroy braced himself for a press conference here with a high level of scrutiny about the state of his mind after he let slip a great chance to win the US Open just over a month ago. He had his answers