2023 U.S. Open: Top 10 power rankings at Los Angeles Country Club
When Rory McIlroy won the 2011 U.S. Open in runaway fashion at Congressional, many assumed that would be the first of many triumphs at America’s national championship.
The Northern Irishman would go on to add three more major wins to his tally, but no more at this event.
Despite the absence of a second win, McIlroy’s resume is still impressive. In 14 U.S. Open starts, he’s made nine cuts with six top-10s. McIlroy has finished top-10 each of the last four years, including T-5th last year at The Country Club.
The 34-year-old wasn’t able to pull off the three-peat at last week’s RBC Canadian Open. On the bright side, he did play well (T-9th) without having to exert the energy that goes into contending on a Sunday the week before a major.
That performance at Oakdale resulted in McIlroy’s third straight top-10 and the fourth in his last six starts. He played well against an elite field on a major championship-tough course like Muirfield Village, taking T-7th at the Memorial Tournament.
Rory leads the PGA Tour in driving distance (327.9). Length is an asset this week at Los Angeles Country Club and annually at the U.S. Open.
He also ranks third in SG tee-to-green (1.841) and SG off-the-tee (.928).
On paper, McIlroy is a solid pick this week and is very reliable to DFS players.
The big question is what type of head space he’s in.
Given the PGA Tour/DP World Tour/LIV drama, it’s easy for his mind to be racing these days. He’s been in the cauldron of this for over a year now, but recent developments have him admitting himself that he feels like a ‘sacrificial lamb.’
Can he tune that noise out to focus on the task at hand?
Not to mention, it’s been nearly a decade since he last won a major at the 2014 PGA Championship.
The pressure is at its peak each year when he goes for the career Grand Slam, though every major places him under the microscope.
Whether it’s through the backdoor or he contends all four days, I see McIlroy factoring into the tournament one way or another. I just think he falls a hair short.