Rory McIlroy not concerned by lack of Royal Troon experience ahead of The Open
Tuesday 12 July 2016 16:40, UK
Rory McIlroy insists his lack of knowledge of Royal Troon is not a disadvantage as he prepares for The 145th Open this week.
McIlroy took his first look at the course last week after deciding to take a break instead of playing in the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart, and he described the historic Ayrshire links as "self-explanatory".
The 2014 Open champion played 18 holes on Tuesday morning alongside Andy Sullivan, Bernd Wiesberger and Matthew Southgate, and he is confident he knows enough about the course to contend for a fifth major title.
"I've gone to plenty of golf courses before that I haven't played and been able to do well on them," said the world No 4. "You've got some of the older guys, obviously, like your Ernie Elses or Phil Mickelsons that have played at Troon before in an Open Championship.
"But I think most of the guys here that are either up around the top of the rankings probably didn't play the Open at Troon when it was last here. So I don't think I'm at a disadvantage at all.
"I had two good looks at the golf course last Thursday and Friday, and I just played another 18 holes this morning. I'll probably play a bit of a loop tomorrow. Might play the first five and the last five, something like that. So I feel like I've had enough good looks at it to know what I'm doing around here.
"I think the golf course is pretty self-explanatory. The greens are quite flat, but one of the big things here is you just have to keep it out of the bunkers. There's not a whole lot of learning to do of the golf course, you just have to be comfortable with the clubs you're hitting off the tees. Once you put it in play, you've got a chance to make birdies."
McIlroy discovered the cost of finding sand at the famous Postage Stamp eighth hole, where he took six attempts to escape the front-right bunker.
"I think I took an eight or a nine, so that didn't go too well," he said. "Headed into the front right bunker and it took me like five or six goes to get out of it. There is a lot of sand in the bunker, so when the ball just trickles back in, it doesn't go into the middle. It sort of stays.
"Obviously that lip there is basically vertical, so it sort of just stayed there, and every time I tried to get it out, it would go back into the same spot. So it was bit of a struggle at the Postage Stamp for me, but hopefully the struggle is out of the way for that hole.
"It's one of those holes where you just try to hit it in the middle of the green. Even though it's only 115, 120 yards. You just have to not be that aggressive, and try to hit it in the middle. Even hitting it into the middle of the green is a good shot. If you make four threes there this week, you're probably going to gain a bit of ground on the field."
McIlroy missed the Open at St Andrews last year after suffering an ankle injury during a game of football with his friends the week before the Scottish Open, and he is determined to make up for lost time this week.
"It was one that I'd earmarked since 2010, and possibly have a chance to win a Claret Jug there," he added. "Of all the courses on the Open rota, that's probably my best chance to win, so to miss that last year was very disappointing.
"I actually thought it was going to be more difficult watching it. I think because it was at St Andrews and because I was going in there feeling like I was playing well. I was coming off the back of a decent spring. I had a couple of wins so I felt like I was going in there with some form.
"But I actually enjoyed watching over the weekend, as funny as that sounds. When you're here it seems like it's everything to you. But you look outside in the bigger, wider world, and it's not the be all and end all. It's obviously very important to me and important to a lot of people, but it just sort of put things into perspective."
McIlroy admitted his swing did not feel natural during the Open de France after making a number of technical changes in recent weeks, but he insisted he has felt far more comfortable since arriving at Troon.
"One of the big things I was practising last week once coming here and seeing the course, especially over the weekend, practising in the left-to-right wind," he said. "I think left-to-right wind is going to be pretty important this week, especially that back nine.
"So there were a couple little shots I was working on last week because of that, and everything feels pretty comfortable. I mean, it definitely feels more comfortable than it did in France. I've seen enough good signs in there that I'm very encouraged going into this week."
