Rory McIlroy says Open at Portrush next 'mountain to climb' - ESPN

OAKMONT, Pa. — By the standard he set Saturday afternoon, Rory McIlroy accomplished two goals in Sunday's final round at the U.S. Open.

First, he finished his round in under 4½ hours — four hours and nine minutes, to be exact. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly to the world's No. 2-ranked golfer, now he gets to go home.

An apathetic McIlroy told the media those were his hopes for the final round after shooting a 74 in the third round at Oakmont on Saturday. And though he played better Sunday with a 3-under 67, which put him in a tie for 23rd when play was suspended late in the afternoon, the fact that he was done being manhandled by the treacherous course was a relief.

«I'm looking forward to just getting back to Europe in general,» he said Sunday. «Obviously I've got one more week over here. Play Hartford next week.… We've got a lot to look forward to, got our new house in London, play the Scottish and then obviously The Open at Portrush.»

Since winning the Masters earlier this spring to finally complete a long-awaited career Grand Slam, McIlroy has played uninspired golf as he missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open last week and finished well back in the PGA Championship. His showing at the 125th U.S. Open was more of the same.

«Look, I climbed my Everest in April, and I think after you do something like that, you've got to make your way back down, and you've got to look for another mountain to climb,» he said. «An Open at Portrush is certainly one of those.»

For McIlroy, who missed the cut when The Open Championship was last played at Portrush in 2019, next month's tournament played in front of his countrymen is an opportunity to sync his mental game with his physical game.

«I didn't realize how emotional I was