McIlroy: Masters’ lessons helped me win US Open

Rory McIlory insists the lessons he learned from his collapse at the Masters played a major factor in his success at the US Open.

As the young Irishman prepares for the Open at Royal St Georges, he admits his collapse in the final round at Augusta contributed hugely to his win at Congressional last month.

He said: “The gap in the feelings [of the two events] was huge. The Sunday night at The Masters was one of the toughest days of my life and the Sunday at the US Open was the best.

“I learned a lot of things in those 70-odd days between the two tournaments. I took a lot from what happened at the Masters and tried to put everything right at the US Open, and was able to do it.”

McIlroy has not played competitively since that win in the States, but is confident his low-key preparation for the the Open will pay off.

He added: “I felt that coming into this tournament after three weeks off was the best way to prepare. I wanted to come here [to Royal St Georges]in the week before and get a couple of practice rounds in without anyone else being here and that means I can put all my energy into the four rounds of golf this weekend.

“The preparation I’ve done in the past has worked before, and hopefully it will work again this time.”

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