Rory McIlroy’s final 18 holes before returning to Europe and ramping up his preparation for the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush resulted in a five-under 65, leading to a T6 finish at the Travelers Championship – his best result since “climbing his Everest” at Augusta National back in April.
The world number two finished alongside Scottie Scheffler, the defending champions and the only player higher in the World Rankings at -12 after 72 holes at TPC River Highlands, and he feels that it sets him up nicely for the stretch of links golf which culminates with what is sure to be an emotional return to his native country.
“It was a good way to end the week,” he said, shortly after signing off with a par having burned the edge with a birdie putt that would’ve, at least temporarily, lifted him into a share of third. “Yeah, sort of good, positive vibes going into a couple-week break here and get ready for Scotland and The Open Championship. But, yeah, definitely saw some positive signs in the game overall, which was really good to see. Yeah, looking forward to getting back over to my neck of the woods for a couple weeks and be prepared for a little bit of links golf.”
TPC River Highlands is one of the shorter venues on the regular PGA Tour circuit, so Rory’s most potent weapon – his driver – is often taken out of his hands, so despite finishing the week ranked 36th in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee, he believes that his driving has continued to improve as he becomes more comfortable with the big stick. He also ranked second in Strokes Gained: Putting, his best performance of the season on that metric.
“I drove it better, but I felt like I started to drive it better at Oakmont, so that was really good,” he said. “I putted the ball well, feel like I finished up there in the putting stats.
“I think as well playing in a little bit of wind a couple of days here, trying to control your ball flight with irons a little bit, feel like that was good. Yeah, overall felt like my game was certainly better than it has been the last few weeks, which is a good sign.”
After three tournaments in a row – including a major – he’s also looking forward to a little downtime and the chance to mentally reset before ramping up again for the final major of the year.
“Yeah, I think more so than anything else it will just be good for me mentally to take a little bit of a break and, yeah, as I said, get back to my neck of the woods, get back to the U.K. for a little bit, excited for that,” he explained. “Yeah, I’ve alluded to the fact I probably haven’t taken enough time off or time to reflect after what happened in April, so I’m excited to do a little bit of that over these next two weeks.”
Shane Lowry closed out with a two-under 69 to climb six places to 45th, continuing his gradual climb up the leaderboard after two disappointing rounds by the high standards he sets himself.
He too will be looking forward to a return across the Atlantic and eventually getting back to the site of his career highlight victory back in 2019.
Leave a comment