Coming off a horrific week at the RBC Canadian Open, where he recorded the worst finish of his PGA Tour career, Rory McIlroy needed a good start at the U.S. Open to get a little confidence back.
And through his first nine holes at Oakmont Country Club, the five-time major champ was doing just that, keeping his card clean on the back side of the golf course with seven pars and a pair of birdies to make the turn at 2-under.
But that was as good as things got for Rory, as his day took a disastrous turn on the front.
McIlroy recorded the first bogey of his opening round at the par-4 opening hole, which couldn't have been pleasing as he found the fairway off the tee with a monstrous drive (one of many on the day) and had just 125 yards left for his second.
He left himself a makeable birdie putt, which he nearly holed, but failed to convert his short par effort, ultimately tapping in for a five.
Rory then failed to take advantage of the second and third holes, which were playing as two of the easiest on the course early in the day, but still made pars at both, keeping himself in red figures as he stepped onto the tee at the 621-yard, par-5 fourth.
And it was there that he demonstrated to everyone why keeping your tee shot in the fairway at Oakmont is so crucial.
McIlroy hit a 309-yard drive but lost it to the right, with his ball ultimately finding the native area. And it only got worse from there.
Hitting from wispy grass that nearly came up to his waist, Rory only hit his second about 65 feet and was left with another challenging shot as his ball settled in the thick rough near a bunker, forcing him into an awkward stance. As such, his third didn't even travel half the distance his second did, advancing just under 32 feet and remaining in the rough.
Still 268 yards away from the hole at this point, he finally escaped the thick stuff with his fourth, which still went only 98 yards. Here's a look at how those first four shots played out. Brutal.
Rory is currently in a battle with the par-5 4th. pic.twitter.com/zdUqIB36kM
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 12, 2025
McIlroy finally found the green with his fifth but left himself a 31-foot, seven-inch putt for bogey, which he actually drained, miraculously dropping only a single shot to fall back to even after that entire ordeal.
But in the end, Rory does his best salvage job with a bogey putt from 30+ feet. pic.twitter.com/86T6tCVj90
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 12, 2025
From there, though, Rory dropped four additional shots. After a par at the fifth, he carded back-to-back bogeys at six and seven and then made a double at the lengthy par-3 eighth, again having trouble with the rough after missing the green with his tee shot.
A par at the ninth gave him a 6-over 41 for his second nine, and his overall 4-over 74 gave him his worst score in the opening round of a U.S. Open since shooting an 80 at Shinnecock Hills in 2018.
When McIlroy walked off the golf course, he was eight shots behind leader J.J. Spaun in a tie for 54th. But at the time of this writing, he'd fallen into a tie for 95th. If Rory wants a seventh straight top-10 in America's national championship, he'll have to first make it to the weekend. And that'll obviously be a little easier if he can stay out of the rough.