McIlroy breaks his US Open silence after shooting a 74 in the third round at Oakmont

OAKMONT Pa AP Rory McIlroy described his U S Open as average so far The majority noteworthy thing Saturday was that he was describing it at all McIlroy held his first post-round media session of the tournament after shooting a -over in the third round at Oakmont He d skipped talking to reporters after playing Thursday and Friday McIlroy was sought Saturday if that was because of frustration on the program Not really he explained It s more a frustration with you guys When urged to elaborate on that he disclosed Maybe not you guys but maybe more just the whole thing It was only a couple months ago that McIlroy won the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam Following that up has been demanding and he s talked openly about needing to find motivation McIlroy s driver was deemed nonconforming before the PGA Championship He was annoyed that that news leaked out and didn t speak to the media after any of the four rounds at Quail Hollow He spoke this week before the start of the U S Open but not after his first-round or second-round At times he didn t need words to share his thoughts such as when he flung a club on No on Friday and smashed a tee marker a sparse holes later Both outbursts came as he was playing the final holes of the second round in under to make the cut It s funny It s much easier being on the cut line when you don t really care if you re here for the weekend or not McIlroy declared I was sort of thinking Do I really want two more days here or not McIlroy announced Saturday his tournament has been pretty average he reported one positive is he s driven the ball as well as he has in a while He disputed the notion that avoiding the media is new for him At Augusta I skipped you guys on Thursday McIlroy noted I ve done it before I m just doing it a little more often There are plenty of possibilities for what s eating at McIlroy His performance the driver flap or perhaps he s just weary of the expectations that come with being one of the encounter s top ambassadors He long has had a reputation for accessibility and he stood firmly with the PGA Tour when LIV Golf launched Does he feel he s earned a break from all that I feel like I ve earned the right to do whatever I want to do yeah And what does he want out of Sunday s final holes Hopefully a round in under hours and get out of here AP golf https apnews com hub golf Source