Rory McIlroy doubles down on controversial preparation method before US Open test

Rory McIlroy is once again leaning on a preparation method that has already delivered major success this season, as he quietly sharpens his game ahead of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills.

McIlroy, 37, has already been back to the venue in advance of the championship, continuing a trend of early course reconnaissance that proved pivotal during his Masters triumph in April. 

It’s a routine that has now become something of a talking point in the game — effective for McIlroy, but not universally applauded.

That win at Augusta National saw the world number two secure a sixth major title, narrowly beating world number one Scottie Scheffler by a single shot. 

Yet even in victory, attention quickly shifted to how he prepared for it rather than just the result itself.

McIlroy’s build-up to The Masters was anything but straightforward. 

A minor back tweak kept him out of action for a spell, but that enforced break came with an unexpected upside.

Extra time at Augusta National.

“It gave me the opportunity to go up to Augusta and prepare maybe more than anyone else in the field,” McIlroy recently told the New Heights podcast. 

“Which I actually got a bit a little bit of s*** for afterward, which was weird.”

Fast forward to the present, and McIlroy appears unfazed by the noise. 

In fact, he’s repeated the same strategy ahead of the US Open in two weeks time, making an early visit to Shinnecock Hills to get a feel for the conditions before tournament week.

The course, last used for the US Open in 2018, is expected to provide a stern test once again, with firm greens and punishing rough likely to define scoring.

McIlroy’s decision to go early isn’t new, but it is increasingly deliberate. 

Rather than relying purely on practice rounds during tournament week, he has shifted towards front-loading his preparation — gaining familiarity when pressure is lower and information is clearer.

After his recent scouting trip of Shinnecock Hills in New York, the Northern Irishman gave a detailed read on what players can expect — and it’s a setup that appears to reward patience and precision over aggression.

“The fairways are very generous. They're more generous than they were in 2018 but the first cut of rough is five inches long,” McIlroy told reporters at this week's Memorial Tournament. 

“The greens are rolling around 11, 11.2… something like that and I really don't think they need to get much faster.

“I think if they can keep them at that speed they can get them firm and use the hole locations that they want to use without having some of the struggles that they have had the last couple of US Opens.”

In simple terms, it sounds like a venue that won’t necessarily punish every miss off the tee — but will absolutely expose any lack of control into the greens.

McIlroy won the first of his six career major titles to date at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. 

Alongside his preparation habits, McIlroy’s overall schedule has also become noticeably more curated.

After an interrupted start to the season following injury concerns at The Players Championship, he opted to skip a number of PGA Tour events in favour of targeted appearances around the biggest tournaments.

Following his Masters win, he played only a handful of events before the PGA Championship, and the pattern has continued into summer. 

This week's Memorial Tournament in Ohio has effectively been his final tune-up before another tilt at a major.

McIlroy has decided to remove next week's RBC Canadian Open, a tournament he has typically favoured since 2019, from his schedule in a bid to spend more time honing his skills for golf's third major of the season. 

“I pick and choose my spots”

McIlroy has been open about the reasoning behind the change in approach, framing it less as a controversial strategy and more as long-term career management.

“I've been doing this a long time. I've been on Tour more than half of my life at this point,” he said. 

“So I'll pick and choose my spots like I have been doing sort of the last 18 months to two years.

“Does it mean it makes it harder for myself to win the FedEx Cup or whatever the season-long title race is going to be called? Absolutely. But I'm OK with that because it brings balance to my life and lets me enjoy things outside of the game.”

It’s a refreshingly candid admission in a sport where players often feel pressure to appear relentlessly committed year-round.

Right now, McIlroy is competing at the Memorial Tournament, where he sits in a share of 19th place at one-over par after two rounds.

He played the final six holes in three-over par on Friday to fall off the first page of the leaderboard. 

JT Poston fired a brilliant 65 on a brutal day of scoring at Muirfield Village on Friday to move to nine-under par for the tournament, and one shot clear of Ryan Gerard. 

For McIlroy, though, the result in Ohio is almost secondary. 

The real focus is clearly on sharpening the edges ahead of another major opportunity.

There’s a growing sense that McIlroy has found a preparation blueprint he trusts: play selectively, scout early, and peak for the majors. 

It’s a formula that has already worked once this season, even if it continues to divide opinion outside his camp.

Whether it pays off again at Shinnecock will be the real test, but for now, he seems more interested in repetition than reinvention.