U.S. Open 2025: Rory McIlroy reveals ‘impossible’ Oakmont practice-round score
Andy Lyons
Rory McIlroy’s worst PGA Tour round this year is a 78 at last week’s RBC Canadian Open. Other than that, he has two 74s—plus many, many more rounds in the 60s. So, when he admitted to struggling at Oakmont during a practice round, one could reasonably assume that it was in the mid-70s, or at the worst, high-70s. Well, he somehow shot an 81, featuring a triple bogey on the second hole and not much better.
“I didn’t even feel like I was playing that bad,” McIlroy exclaimed, to a bit of a gasp from the media members in attendance, during his Tuesday press conference ahead of this week's U.S. Open. McIlroy admitted that the course felt “impossible” with such firm greens and harsh pins—he played as part of an outing hosted by Oakmont member Stan Drukenmiller—but is pleased with the rain making everything a bit softer. He then said that if you find the fairway, things will be OK. Easier said than done, of course.
“It’s much more benign right now than it was that Monday,” McIlroy said about his 11 over par round alongside Adam Scott. “They had the pins in dicey locations, and greens were running at 15½ [on the Stimpmeter]. It was nearly impossible.
“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.”
David Cannon
One of the wilder things about all this is that McIlroy needed birdies on his final two holes to even get that 81. An 83 was easily in play for the career Grand Slam winner.
Now, these things happen. Especially during a practice round where you’re trying to figure out the course from all possible angles, but McIlroy’s last PGA Tour 80 came at the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. He's only had two 80s on tour in his career, the aforementioned Shinnecock round and the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews. Fun facts: That 80 came the day after a barnburner of a 63. He finished that major T-3.
You gotta get the bad rounds out of the way, and it’s clear that McIlroy has done exactly that with his Oakmont test. He’s admitted to erasing the 2016 Oakmont major from his “memory bank.” Hopefully, he can do the same with this U.S. Open practice round. Or, this’ll be an unfortunately quick major for the constant contender.
