US Open: Resilient Rory McIlroy shows he is up for the fight (2024)

Rory McIlroy stopped short of singing the refrain to Chumbawamba’s old hit, but the message was the same. He gets knocked down and he gets up again. Now into a ninth year of his quest for a fifth major, one of the most analysed figures in sport has stepped out of the maelstrom and back into the mix.

Clad in shocking pink, he found a purple patch to reach the halfway stage of the US Open just two shots off Rickie Fowler’s lead. Wyndham Clark is one ahead of McIlroy, whose round of 67 took him to eight under par, alongside Xander Schauffele, who had matched Fowler’s US Open record of 62 on Thursday.

McIlroy’s finish, with six birdies in his last nine holes, was restorative after a stuttering start on the tougher stretch at the Los Angeles Country Club. On the three previous occasions when he has recorded rounds of 67 or better in the first two rounds at a major, he has gone on to win.

Sceptics will sniff at that and say we have been here before and it will all derail. For a start Fowler is an alchemist trying to fashion gold from years of frustration. Another eight birdies, allied to six bogeys, meant he tied Martin Kaymer’s 36-hole US Open record. Nobody has had this many birdies.

Added to that, McIlroy has also become a reliable nearly-man. He was close at last year’s Open but was outgunned by Cameron Smith on a Sunday that fizzled out. He was also in contention at the US Open, but unravelled on Saturday. Since he won his last major he has had 18 top-ten finishes, including nine top-fives. Plenty of those have been backdoor entries fashioned from late runs when the pressure was off, but he is undeniably battle-scarred. Whether that makes him more resilient or vulnerable will probably be answered over the next 48 hours.

“No one wants to win another major — no one wants me to win another major — more than I do,” he said. “The desire is obviously there. I’ve been trying and I’ve come close over the past nine years, and I keep coming back. I’ve shown a lot of resilience in my career, a lot of ups and downs, and I keep coming back. And whether that means that I get rewarded or I get punched in the gut, I’ll always keep coming back.”

A combination punch of his own provided the gloss finish. He demolished his penultimate hole, the par-five 8th, with a perfect drive and brawny draw to within 20 feet. It could have been an eagle but he had his birdie. He was close to a hole-in-one on the last but made up another shot.

So why does he believe this time could be different to all those other tilts? After all, it was only last month when he was confessing the missed cut at Augusta has been mentally deflating and hard to forget.

Part of it comes from a newfound acceptance that he is more than the king of the bombers, something brought home to him when he watched YouTube clips of his Open win at Royal Liverpool. “I actually couldn’t believe how many irons and 3-woods I was hitting off the tee,” he said. “It set something off in my mind about how to do this. ‘You know how to play smart, you don’t have to hit driver all the time’. Yes, it’s a big weapon, it’s a big advantage, but I keep saying I’ve got more weapons in my arsenal now than I did back then, so I may as well use them.”

This is already an odd US Open. Low scores, high-rises, fewer fans than normal but one in a sombrero and a fake moustache heckling Phil Mickelson for what he said were the twin ills of Saudi Arabia and a lingerie chain. ‘Golf but louder’ is LIV Golf’s slogan. This is golf but weirder with longer queues on the course than off it. Grow the game? Try playing a round in under five hours.

Add the backdrop of the merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund and it is hard to think of a comparable major. Brooks Koepka had said he would embrace this chaos while others would be “bitching and moaning”. As it turned out, Koepka was the griper-in-chief. “I think it should be around par,” he said of the appropriate score for the self-style hardest major, evidently forgetting his 2017 win at 17 under. “I’m not a huge fan of this place. I’m not a huge fan of blind tee shots, and I think there are some spots that no matter what you hit, the ball just ends up in the same spot.”

As he was eight behind playing partner McIlroy, he should probably have changed the record. McIlroy, though, said he will also be happy if this morphs into a more traditional US Open. “I wouldn’t be surprised on Saturday and Sunday to see it bite back, which I feel is what a US Open is all about. It should be tough. It should be just as much of a mental grind out there as a physical one.”

Apart from the scoring, the absence of enthralled galleries is also leaving many bemused. LACC is a place that is so exclusively elitist that it does not appear to be overly bothered about people or golf. A paucity of fans and enthusiasm meant Matt Fitzpatrick had his first professional hole-in-one on the 115-yard 15th, and the reaction was more suited to a meat raffle. “I wish it would have been louder,” said the defending champion after finishing at one over par.

The USGA had promised they would not make life “stupid hard”, but it was hard enough. Dustin Johnson started at six under but it took him six shots to make the 2nd green. That quadruple eight might have had others imploding but Johnson’s gift is not to overthink golf. He finished back at six under par, with US Amateur Sam Bennett a shot behind. Other star turns who will feel they are still in with a shout are Smith and Scottie Scheffler.

Meanwhile, Mickelson’s ninth attempt to complete the career grand slam faded fast on his 53rd birthday. The morning after a man had been ejected for a diatribe that referenced geopolitics and, for some reason, nine-inch heels, a round of 74 meant Mickelson also had an early exit. Elsewhere, in golden oldie land, Tiger Woods’ absence from next month’s Open was confirmed by the R&A as he recuperates from his latest ankle surgery. At least Mickelson is outlasting his old foe.

Those who missed the cut included Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Jason Day and, most spectacularly, Justin Thomas, who had a punishing round of 81 to finish at 15 over par. There was no coming back from that. It may be best not to tell him that everyone seems to think this course is too easy.

Second round leaderboard

United States unless stated
Par 70
* denotes amateur

130 R Fowler 62, 68.
131 W Clark 64, 67.
132 X Schauffele 62, 70, R McIlroy (NI) 65, 67.
133 H English, 67, 66.
134 D Johnson 70, 64, M W Lee (Aus) 69, 65.

Selected British and Irish:
141 M Fitzpatrick (Eng).
142 T Fleetwood (Eng), S Lowry (Ire).

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