So much so that Rory McIlroy can’t digest. So much so that the Northern Irishman fades when it becomes difficult.
Here, at the 122nd US Open on Friday, he was locked in a battle with The Country Club, as well as a dizzying mix of the best players in the world, and stood up to the challenge.
McIlroy is four fewer, one behind Colin Morikawa and Joel Damen, and from the miserable, tournament-threatening spot he came in third, this 69 was a truly impressive achievement.
The 33-year-old McIlroy struck his approach to par four in the tall fescue to the right of the green bunker and with two swings managed to move it about three yards.
He could barely see his ball and was playing his fifth shot. The triple seven was certainly the most he could hope for. But McIlroy cut him to 25 feet and threw himself into the blow to limit the damage to a double blow.
“It was the best double boogie I’ve ever done,” he said.
There was none of the temper tantrums he had shown in his early 67s, only a steely kind of intent on his mission to win his fifth major after an eight-year gap.
McIlroy was lucky in the sense that he was out in the easier afternoon conditions, when the gusts subsided considerably. But his ball shots, especially off the field, weren’t the best anywhere.
It is widely believed that when he makes a mistake, the fire goes out in his stomach. Not this time, denying tapahi on the sixth and 10th with birds on the fifth, eighth, 12th, 14th and 17th. And with Morikawa, the two-time big 66-pointer, McIlroy showed resilience when he just had to.
“I didn’t panic – I knew there were holes that would give me a chance,” he said. “I think I should come up with the idea that I’m trying to win my first major. I’ve been playing my best golf for a long time.
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