U.S. Open 2017: Rory McIlroy’s too injured and rusty to contend at Erin Hills, says Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley

If Rory McIlroy believes Erin Hill is “perfect” and his health is good, why is it that his 2014 Ryder Cup captain does not like the chances of the four-time major champion at this week’s U.S. Open?

Nagging injuries and lack of competitive rounds.

Paul McGinley believes the aggravation of a previous stress fracture in McIlroy’s rib will hinder his ability to contend on the 7,741-yard, par-72 course (the championship’s longest venue, with Chambers Bay in 2015 playing 46 yards shorter) with wide fairways and potentially cushy conditions if forecasted rain materializes — all of which should be right in the powerful Ulsterman’s wheelhouse.

“Normally, when you think of a long and soft U.S. Open, the first name that comes to mind is Rory McIlroy,” said McGinley, a Sky Sports commentator, according to several reports. “And in a normal year, this place would be perfect for him. I think he’d be the man who could be closest to overpowering this course — setting the target for the rest.”


This is not that year, according to McGinley, though afflictions have unfortunately become the norm for the 28-year-old world No. 2. He lost time in 2015 with a ruptured ligament in his left ankle and again this year with the fractured rib that delayed the start of his 2017 season. A recurrence of the injury that put him on the DL since last month’s Players Championship.

The affronts to his body are not quite Tiger Woods-esque, but they have prevented him from competing in several events, including the 2015 defense of his Open Championship title. Indeed, this week’s tourney will be just the sixth of the year on the PGA Tour for McIlroy, who had to withdraw from last month’s BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour with that second rib injury.

“Rory has played only five tournaments this year and, through no fault of his own, he went into the Masters [where he finished T7] seriously undercooked,” McKinley noted. “When you consider he has only played once since Augusta, that lack of a competitive edge is going to be even more of a problem this time, even with his injury problems now apparently behind him.”

If the player himself is to be believed, and if his recent practice pace is any indication, they do seem to be in the past.

“I feel good,” McIlroy told reporters Tuesday after playing “eight or nine rounds” in the past 10 days. “No limitations on my swing whatsoever.

“Preparation-wise, instead of hitting five bags of balls, I’ll hit two, just something like that. It’s not as if I can’t hit balls, it’s just a matter of managing how many repetitions I put through it. I mean not really many limitations.”

McIlroy has certainly put in the time, getting in a few practice rounds ahead of Thursday’s opener.

“I like it, I really do,” McIlroy told USOpen.com on Sunday about the public course that will host the national championship for the first time. “I got a good look at it on Friday, I walked it, and I played yesterday and I played today … For a U.S. Open venue it’s a little more generous than we’ve seen in the past … It will allow guys to be aggressive, you’ll hit a lot of drivers around here and you can be aggressive with your iron shots.

“It gets a little tricky once you are on the greens sometimes, but overall it is going to be a great test.”

Speaking of the greens, McIlroy will enter the tournament with a new flat stick in his bag. The TaylorMade Spider Tour Red putter will be popular this week, what with defending champion and top-ranked Dustin Johnson and world No. 3 Jason Day also using the same stick, though DJ’s is black.

McIlroy, who would rank 43rd on the PGA Tour in strokes gained-putting if he had played enough rounds, according to GolfDigest.Com, switched out an Odyssey ProType mallet putter for the Spider Tour mallet with a green “RORS” stamped on the sole.

After testing a bunch of models, the Spider Tour with a black line on the crown of the putter head to aid with alignment “was really the one that came out better than the rest in terms of launch conditions and how fast it got the ball rolling, side spin, even face rotation, as well,” he said. “I felt like I could bring it back to square more often than anything else I had tested. And I’ve had a few weeks to chip and putt around and get comfortable with it.

“It’s a bit of a different feel than what I had been playing previously. But from what I’ve seen in practice so far it feels good.”