OAKMONT, Pa. – Two months after Rory McIlroy finally mastered the Masters, the U.S. Open U.S. Open-ed him. McIlroy began the first round by birdieing two of the first three holes and finished it about a week later. That’s an exaggeration, but only a slight one: As McIlroy finished the eighth hole, his 17th hole of the day, the clock on the scoreboard near the green read 12:58. His group teed off at 7:40. That’s a five-hour-and-18-minute round, for those napping at home, and McIlroy, Justin Rose and Shane Lowry still had another 23 minutes to go.
Oakmont is a strict, stuffy parent of a golf course: I know it’s hot and I know you’re tired, but you’re going to finish what you started, and don’t you dare loosen your tie. If ever golf needed a mercy rule, this is the week. McIlroy made the turn at 2 under, but he spent the back nine, as many do at Oakmont, hacking at the rough like his sand wedge was an axe.
