Rory McIlroy gladly took care of business last week as he prepared for this week’s 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
“I actually changed the first two diapers, so I’m very proud of that,” McIlroy said Tuesday. “I’ve got my hands dirty, put it that way.”
McIlroy is in his third week of fatherhood after he and wife, Erica, welcomed their first child, Poppy Kennedy McIlroy, into the world at 12:15 p.m. ET on August 31 in Jupiter, Florida. He’s lost sleep at night, been at the ready for anything Erica or Poppy need, and as he said, gotten his hands dirty. And he’s loved every minute. Well, except when he’s on the road doing his day job.
“Thankfully everyone is healthy, which is obviously the most important thing,” McIlroy said. “They’re good. Erica has bounced back well. She’s back doing our four-mile runs and stuff in the morning, so a lot tougher than I am.
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“It was tough to leave on Sunday. Could have spent an extra couple days there for sure. Everyone is good, thankfully. And just grateful that everything is good at home, and it allows me to come up here and focus on what I’m supposed to do.”
That would be tackling the West Course at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, New York, some 25 miles from Times Square. The course is as tough as they come, a laborious mixture of thin fairways, unforgiving rough and puzzling green complexes that make grown men cry.
But McIlroy’s in a great frame of mind to take on the Winged Foot beast in U.S. Open conditions.
“It just puts things in perspective a little bit,” he said of his daughter’s birth. “(My career) matters to me and I care about it very much, but at the same time, it makes the hard days a little easier to get over, right. And I’m not saying that I want to have hard days to get over, but yeah, you’re a little more relaxed.
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“When I say it’s not the be-all and end-all, it’s a major championship and I’ve grown up my whole life dreaming of winning these tournaments, and that’s not going to change, but if it doesn’t quite happen, I can live with that and go home and be very happy and leave what’s happened at the golf course at the golf course.
“That’s maybe something that I haven’t done so well in the past is I haven’t left my job at the office basically, I’ve brought it home with me, and I’ve let it affect my mood and how I am. Having that little bit more perspective definitely helps.”
Liking the course at first sight helps, too.
McIlroy, 31, hasn’t won a major since the 2014 PGA Championship, a surprising winless stretch for the former world No. 1 who counts four on his resume, including the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional.
And he hasn’t won in 10 months. Still, he’s No. 4 in the world and he’s coming off his two best performances since golf returned after a 13-week COVID-19 break – a tie for seventh in the Tour Championship and a tie for 12th in the BMW Championship.
“It’s awesome. This is the first time I’ve had a look at it. Played 18 holes yesterday and loved what I saw,” McIlroy said. “It’s hard, obviously, but I think it’s very, very fair. I’m still learning it as I go here. I’m going to go and play nine holes this afternoon after this.
“But I loved what I saw yesterday morning, and I’m excited to get going.”
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