Rory McIlroy accused his own coach of “giving away secrets” during a frosty television interview on Saturday. The Northern Irish superstar found himself three shots adrift of leader Bryson DeChambeau ahead of the final round of the US Open after hitting a -1 in Round 3.
McIlroy had won four majors by the time he turned 25 but has been on a barren run on the biggest stage since landing the PGA Championship in 2014.
He now has the opportunity to win a second US Open title, however, 13 years after clinching the 2011 edition of the tournament at the Congressional Country Club in Maryland.
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McIlroy ended the opening day of this year’s US Open as joint leader after hitting five-under-par. But he relinquished his position in Round 2 as he completed the course two-over-par. And he shot one-under-par in Round 3.
The 35-year-old was interviewed by Kira K Dixon on Sky Sports following Saturday’s play. And the golf reporter told him that his putting coach Brad Faxon had revealed a “eureka moment” during an appearance as a pundit on NBC.
“Our NBC colleague Brad Faxon was saying on the broadcast that you had a bit of a eureka moment on the plane from the Memorial Tournament back home,” Dixon explained to McIlroy.
“You figured something out, you got up and you were making some practice swings apparently. Is this true and what is the eureka moment?”
McIlroy appeared to be taken aback by Dixon’s comments. And following a brief pause, he replied: “Okay. Erm, it may be true. I don't know if I want to disclose it right now. It's nice to know that Fax is sort of giving away all of our secrets.”
Dixon then attempted to play down the extent of Faxon’s revelation by suggesting the coach “didn’t say what it was.” And McIlroy added: “No, I know, I know. But we spend a lot of time on planes and I spend a lot of time thinking about my game in the air. Sometimes things come to me.”
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McIlroy will start the final round on four-under-par, level pegging with Patrick Cantlay and Matthieu Pavon. And following his third round performance, the ace explained: “It was difficult, but overall I felt like I gave a really good account of myself.
“I played really well, most of my game was firing, with a couple of loose iron shots towards the end of the round. Overall, I would have taken one-under-par on the first tee today. It's a grind.
“The US Open feels like you play two golf tournaments in one week. I'm going to try to recover as good as I can tonight and get ready for one more day of grinding tomorrow.”
