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Rory McIlroy Vents About U.S. Open Course

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Jessica McBride | Last updated Jun 10, 2025 3:19 PM ET

Professional golfer Rory McIlroy isn't holding back on his opinions about the U.S. Open's notoriously tricky Oakmont Country Club course.

Coming off his Masters victory, McIlroy is obviously one of the top golfers to watch at the tournament, which is expected to be tough terrain. Photos showing the rough are already circulating on social media, and the weather forecast is predicting weekend rain.

The Masters champ traveled to Oakmont before the U.S. Open for a "reconnaissance mission."

But McIlroy's practice round "didn’t go so well," Sports Illustrated reported.

"It's Oakmont...it's still a big brute of a golf course, and you're going to have to have your wits about you this week... It's Oakmont," McIlroy told reporters on June 10. He told reporters that he "learned he wasn't using the right driver" and feels better this week.

“Last Monday felt impossible. I birdied the last two holes for 81,” McIlroy said of the practice round, which took place on June 2, SI reported on June 10.

“It felt pretty good. It didn’t feel like I played that bad," he added, according to SI.

“It’s much more benign right now than it was that Monday. They had the pins in dicey locations, and greens were running at 15½. It was nearly impossible," he said.

“This morning it was a little softer. The pins aren’t going to be on 3 or 4 percent slopes all the time. If you put it in the fairway, it’s certainly playable. But then you just have to think about leaving your ball below the hole and just trying to make as many pars as you can. You get yourself in the way of a few birdies, that’s a bonus," McIlroy added, according to SI.

McIlroy has made other comments about his game going into the U.S. Open.

"I worked incredibly hard on my game from October last year all the way up until April this year," McIlroy said at the press event. "It was nice to sort of see the fruits of my labor come to fruition and have everything happen."

"You have to enjoy that," he added. "You have to enjoy what you've just accomplished. I certainly feel like I'm still doing that and I will continue to do that. At some point, you have to realize that there's a little bit more golf left to play this season...Weeks like Quail Hollow or weeks like even last week, it makes it easier to reset in some way, to be like, OK, I sort of need to get my stuff together here and get back to the process."

McIlroy told reporters he was just taking things tournament by tournament.

This article first appeared on Men's Journal and was syndicated with permission.

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