The strategic motive Rory McIlroy would not watch golf earlier than he performs

With a 1:14 p.m. tee time on Thursday, Rory McIlroy might have been similar to the remainder of us that morning and watched golf on the U.S. Open for a couple of hours earlier than preparing for his personal spherical.

Along with passing a while, he might have gotten some perception on how Pinehurst No. 2 was enjoying in a difficult U.S. Open setup.

However he didn’t. He by no means does.

“No, I don’t like watching,” McIlroy stated Thursday after his spherical. “I simply don’t like watching protection earlier than I am going out to play.”

He defined nothing extra.

Standard knowledge says, particularly with a golf course that he hasn’t seen in competitors in 10 years, it may need been smart to look at the early protection to get a way of which pins may trigger hassle, which manner sure greens break, what golf equipment guys are utilizing off of various tees.

These are issues McIlroy would have picked up in a observe spherical, however as Allen Iverson may interject right here, we’re not speaking about observe. Issues are simply completely different when the competitors change will get flipped on.

In fact, McIlroy’s technique paid off Thursday as he posted a bogey-free 65, tying the U.S. Open Pinehurst scoring document and grabbing a share of the 18-hole lead with Patrick Cantlay.

In different phrases, it’s powerful to poke holes in a profitable technique.

On Friday, McIlroy’s day was reversed, as is typical. For the second spherical, his tee time was 7:29 a.m., and he posted a two-over 72 that can go away him at three underneath heading to the weekend, doubtless inside a couple of pictures of the lead.

However a reporter after the spherical nonetheless wished to know precisely why McIlroy was so obsessed with not watching event earlier than he performed. Seems, McIlroy would moderately belief what he sees on the course, moderately than what he remembers from a scenario that’s not the identical as what he faces.

“I don’t like seeing the place different guys are hitting it,” McIlroy defined. “I notably don’t like once I can watch folks hit putts on greens as a result of then, every time I’ve an analogous putt on the golf course, I’m going off the reminiscence of what I believe I noticed on TV as a substitute of seeing it with my very own eyes. I’d moderately simply not have that choice in any respect.

“I’ve realized the onerous manner at occasions that I don’t must be watching on the TV.”

So there you could have it. However on Friday, with McIlroy having completed his spherical round 1 p.m. and loads of golf left to be watched within the afternoon, he may find yourself appearing like the remainder of us in spite of everything.

“This afternoon I’ll most likely tune in a bit bit and watch,” he stated.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State College, incomes levels in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his highschool golf crew and just lately returned to this system to function head coach. Jack additionally nonetheless *tries* to stay aggressive in native amateurs. Earlier than becoming a member of GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but in addition producing, anchoring and even presenting the climate. He may be reached at [email protected].