Whether it was an unintended consequence, Rory McIlroy said he has discovered an even sharper focus on the golf course since his abrupt break-up with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki.
It has been three weeks since he called off their engagement, the same week he won the BMW PGA Championship in England. In the time since, McIlroy said he has migrated away from social media, kept his head down and renewed his vows with his sport of choice.
“It’s nice when you get out on the golf course because you’ve got that five hours you’re just out there with your clubs and your caddie, trying to shoot the best score possible,” McIlroy said.
“I’ve just kept saying that I’m really enjoying my golf at the moment. I just want to try to become the best player that I can be. … There have been times this year when I’ve felt like it’s been close to the point where I can win major championships again (he has won two, the last being the 2012 PGA Championship). I just want to focus on that and focus on golf. Golf has sort of been a nice release for me the past few weeks.”
And if all that didn’t snap him to, a two-hour summit with Jack Nicklaus back home in South Florida last week should have done the trick.
“He said to me, ‘How the hell can you shot 63 and then 78?’” McIlroy said, referring to his first two rounds at Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament.
“I said, ‘I wasn’t meaning to, Jack.’
“Some of the things he said to me, I’m really thinking about going into this week. He was a great U.S. Open player and hopefully some of those little nuggets he passed on might help.”
Jackets solidly represented, but outnumbered: That Georgia-Georgia Tech best ball might be a little tough for the Yellow Jackets at the Open this year. They're outnumbered 8-3. Strong players on both sides, and strong storylines all around. On the Tech side, Matt Kuchar is still trying to win his first major, and Stewart Cink is on the final year automatically qualifying for the U.S. Open on the basis of his 2009 British Open victory. On the Georgia side, there is the huge favor the lords of the USGA did in lumping former Bulldogs and friends Chris Kirk, Russell Henley and Brendon Todd in the same threesome Thursday and Friday. That should go far to ease the major-tournament jitters.
Other pairing quirks: At 1:25 Thursday, three English tee off together. There's Harris English, another former Bulldog and two others actually from England, Luke Donald and Paul Casey. … You're going to want to go to lunch Thursday and maybe not come back. The marquee threesome of Masters champions Adam Scott, Bubba Watson and Charl Schwartzel departs at 1:25 p.m. All six players in the two groups following them have at least one major championship — Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Louis Ooosthuizen, Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley and Martin Kaymer.
Scott not so great at this event: World's No. 1 Adam Scott has a most modest U.S. Open resume. In a dozen previous appearances, he has six missed cuts and no finish higher than 15th. "Maybe it's coincidence that I haven't had my best stuff at a U.S. Open," Scott said. "But I certainly feel like where my game's at now — and the past few years — I should be able to compete here. I'm trying to build a game that can play anywhere. So it's a good week for me to kind of turn the corner and get in contention."
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