Rory McIlroy feels "somewhat stress-free" as he seeks fifth major
Rory McIlroy is one stroke back heading into Sunday's final round of the US Open.
Rory McIlroy is one day away from claiming his fifth major title.
After a third-round 1-under 69 on Saturday, the Northern Irishman sits one stroke back of the leaders with 18 holes left at the 123rd US Open.
Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark sit atop the leaderboard at 10-under par through 54 holes, while McIlroy is alone in third, right behind them at 9-under par.
Rory McIlroy is tied for the lead at LACC. @McIlroyRory #USOpen pic.twitter.com/Hc636g4KWQ
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 17, 2023
"I feel pretty good. The golf course definitely got a little bit trickier today than the first couple of days. Felt like I played really smart, solid golf. Hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens. Sort of felt somewhat stress free out there, if you can ever call golf at a U.S. Open stress-free," McIlroy told reporters after his round on Saturday.
"Overall, yeah, pretty pleased with how today went, and feel like I'm in a good spot heading into tomorrow."
It's been nearly a decade since the 34-year-old won his last major championship.
He won the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in July 2014 and then the PGA Championship at Valhalla a month later. What's followed is a nine-year major drought that no one could have predicted.
Despite the lack of major titles, McIlroy has still played world-class golf over the past decade, winning 14 more PGA Tour events in the time since.
Those 14 titles include two World Golf Championships, three TOUR Championships, and one Players Championship.
Still, McIlroy's sights are set on a fifth major title.
After Friday's second round, where he shot a 3-under 67, McIlroy told reporters "no one wants me to win another major more than I do."
He's had multiple close calls since his last major victory, finishing inside the top 10 at all four during last year's campaign.
And after Saturday's third round, McIlroy said he just needs "one more day" to get to the finish line.
"It's been such a long time since I've done it," he said. "I'm going out there to try to execute a game plan, and I feel like over the last three days I've executed that game plan really, really well, and I just need to do that for one more day."
McIlroy will tee off in the penultimate group Sunday alongside Scottie Scheffler, who's three strokes back of the leaders at 7-under par. They'll tee off at 2:19 p.m. PDT at Los Angeles Country Club.
