{"id":180729,"date":"2025-06-13T09:28:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T09:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/180729\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T09:28:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T09:28:17","slug":"rory-mcilroy-sends-message-to-doubters-with-record-drive-but-it-nearly-hits-fans-at-us-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/180729\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy sends message to doubters with record drive – but it nearly hits fans at US Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rory McIlroy hit a huge 392-yard drive in the first round of the US Open that almost landed on a busy crosswalk.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Northern Irishman<\/a> is in action at the Oakmont Country Club<\/a>, where he is bidding to win the major for the first time since 2011.<\/p>\n

\"McIlroy<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

McIlroy is off to a promising start in PennsylvaniaCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

McIlroy’s driver has drawn plenty of attention recently, with the Masters champion testing out several options after his previous model was ruled\u00a0to be non-conforming at the PGA Championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Results have been varied, and the 36-year-old revealed he would be seeking a new model<\/a> ahead of the US Open, after missing the cut by 12 shots at the Canadian Open last week.<\/p>\n

But McIlroy certainly looks to have mastered the club now, putting any concern to bed in spectacular fashion in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

Playing on the back nine in Round 1, he used his new driver for the first time at the par-5 12th hole.<\/p>\n

And few could have expected just how well this would go, as he unleashed a tee shot that travelled a staggering 392 yards.<\/p>\n

The enormous effort was McIlroy’s longest measured drive of the season, while it also nearly reached a busy crosswalk.<\/p>\n

Things soon got even better for the five-time major champion, as he then made the green with a fine approach shot, and two-putted for birdie to give him an early share of the lead at two-under-par.<\/p>\n

McIlroy has kept up his strong start, and currently sits tied-for-seventh on one-under-par, behind early leader JJ Spaun, who has raced ahead on four-under-par.<\/p>\n

The golfer’s exploits with his driver come just days after he opened up on his recent trials with the club, where he confirmed he would be using a familiar model this week.<\/p>\n

Speaking in his pre-tournament press conference, McIlroy explained he had been feeling more optimistic after getting to grips with his new piece of equipment. <\/p>\n

\"McIlroy<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

McIlroy unleashed a huge driver on the 12th hole at the US OpenCredit: Credit: X: @sleepergolf\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

The tee shot travelled so far it that only just missed the crosswalkCredit: Credit: X: @sleepergolf<\/p>\n

He said: “Hitting a lot of drivers, every driver sort of has its own character and you’re trying to manage the misses. It’s definitely a little bit of both.<\/p>\n

“I feel like, as the last few weeks go, I think I learnt a lot on Thursday and Friday last week and did a good bit of practice at home and feel like I’m in a better place with everything going into this week.<\/p>\n

When asked what he had gained from practising with drivers in the build-up to the major, McIlroy offered a simple explanation.<\/p>\n

Laughing, he quipped: “I learned that I wasn’t using the right driver!”<\/p>\n

McIlroy is looking to rediscover his best form at the US Open, having endured a slump since his historic Masters victory in April.<\/p>\n

The world no.2 became just the sixth\u00a0man to complete the career Grand Slam with victory in Augusta.<\/p>\n

\"Rory<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy’s 2011 US Open triumph was his first Major titleCredit: AFP<\/p>\n

He finished in tied 47th at the PGA Championship last month, before a difficult Canadian Open campaign last week.<\/p>\n

McIlroy then appeared to cast doubt over his US Open chances when he revealed he had\u00a0hit an 11-over round of 81 in practice<\/a> at Oakmont.<\/p>\n

But after a strong start to the third major of the year, McIlroy will now surely be more confident of tasting glory in the tournament he first won as a 22-year-old in 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy hit a huge 392-yard drive in the first round of the US Open that almost landed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[2826,74412,4298,4287,79,16,15,5067],"class_list":{"0":"post-180729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-jj-spaun","10":"tag-pga-tour","11":"tag-rory-mcilroy","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-us-open"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114675351860154956","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}