Rory McIlroy oozing confidence before latest Major challenge

The strut is back, so too the air of invincibility.

Rory McIlroy has rolled into town on a mission and with a desire to rubberstamp his authority.

“Do I feel like the best player in the world? Yes,” asked and answered McIlroy, ahead of his quest for a fifth career Major title at this 115th edition of the US Open championship here at Chambers Bay in Washington State.

Although McIlroy has missed back-to-back cuts in his last two outings, both in Europe, the 26-year-old has shrugged off any notion that he has hit a blip in form and is keen to lay down the marker that he is the undisputed world number one.

“If you look back at the last four or five years, I guess I’ve won more Majors than anyone else in that time period . . . I want to go out every week and try to back that up and show that I’m number one.”

The Northern Irishman – who missed cuts in his defence of the BMW PGA Championship and also at the Irish Open – has benefitted from a two-week break, which included some sightseeing in London, and set about proving that he has what he calls “the motivation” to maintain a sustained period as the world’s top player and to add to his haul of Major titles.

Own mark

He is intent on effectively doing a Tiger Woods and putting his own mark on that top spot in the world rankings.

McIlroy observed: “I think the biggest thing is motivation. It’s about setting your goals all the time and trying to achieve those. In a golf perspective, it’s just trying to get better, trying to achieve more things and to set your goals and try and accomplish that.

"And, then, off the course, you have to be stable, you have to be happy, to keep it simple. If you want longevity in golf, look at the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, they had very stable personal lives and kept it simple. I think that's the key to having a long and successful career."

And McIlroy – who has four career Majors, at the US Open (2011), the US PGA (2012 and 2014) and the British Open (2014) – is ready and willing to take another step towards that greatness here at Chambers Bay on a course he likened to “like playing an Open Championship in the United States”.

Although his game has developed into one that is best showcased on typical US parkland courses where it is a case of getting yardage from JP Fitzgerald and firing at the flag with confident abandon, McIlroy believes his mindset – and his game – is all set to take on the unique challenge that lies ahead over the four days of tournament play starting tomorrow.

The cut

Once, McIlroy struggled on links. At the British Open in Sandwich four years ago, he remarked he wouldn’t change his game “for one week of the year”. At Muirfield in 2013, he shot rounds of 79-75 to miss the cut in that year’s British Open. Last year, of course, he defied all those who doubted his links ability by winning his first British Open at Hoylake.

Of his difference as a player between Muirfield and now, McIlroy – clearly relishing the challenge here – said: “I’m a completely different player. I’m in a completely different place. I had no control of my golf game at that point in time (in 2013) and I feel like I’m pretty much in full control of it at the minute.”

He added: “I think a place like this can separate the field a lot. This is the kind of golf course that, if you’re slightly off, it’ll magnify that. But it will really reward people that are hitting good shots and are confident and whose short games are sharp,” said McIlroy.

He who claimed that his recent poor run – those two missed cuts coming towards the end of a five-week stint on tour – was mental tiredness rather than anything fundamentally wrong with his swing.

Major examination

McIlroy – who followed up his missed cut at Royal County Down with some corporate engagements, some tourist activity in London which included “10 miles of walking” and a whirl on the London Eye before resetting his sights on getting ready for this latest Major examination – said: “I obviously didn’t want to miss those two cuts in Europe but I think that’s just the way it’s going to be. I’d rather in a six-tournament period have three wins and three missed cuts than six top-10s. It’s just volatility in golf is actually a good thing. If your good weeks are really good, it far outweighs the bad weeks.”

The last time McIlroy teed it up in a Major, at the Masters in Augusta in April, he was the centre of a media storm and of his own expectations as he set about trying to achieve the career Grand Slam. This time, there is a lower – and quieter – approach. “Obviously I am not flying in under the radar, but there’s not as much attention or hype. I can do my thing without much worry. This week is hugely important, a chance to win a second US Open and fifth Major.”