OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Rory McIlroy could leave Oakmont feeling like he accomplished something, even if it took the full four days for him to produce a truly impressive round.
McIlroy shot a 3-under 67 on Sunday, finishing the U.S. Open at 7 over and giving himself a performance he can build off as he works toward the year’s final major — next month’s British Open at Royal Portrush in his home country of Northern Ireland.
“It will be amazing to go home and play in that atmosphere and see a lot of people,” McIlroy said. “I’m really looking forward to it. It was nice to end this week with a bit of a positive note with the way I played today.”
McIlroy skipped talking to the media after his first two rounds this week, and much of his availability Saturday was spent being asked why. His golf was a bigger topic Sunday. It had been unremarkable through three days, but he shared the low round Sunday with Jon Rahm after finishing with six birdies — four on the back nine. McIlroy finished tied for 19th.
“Physically I feel like my game’s there,” he said. “It’s just mentally getting myself in the right frame of mind to get the best out of myself.”
That's been a theme for McIlroy lately when he has talked. Winning the Masters and completing the career Grand Slam was a seismic moment in his career, and returning to those heights has been a struggle.
“Look, I climbed my Everest in April, and I think after you do something like that, you’ve got to make your way back down, and you’ve got to look for another mountain to climb,” he said. “An Open at Portrush is certainly one of those.”
First, McIlroy has the Travelers Championship in Connecticut next week. And the Scottish Open is a week before Royal Portrush.
In addition to finding motivation, McIlroy has needed to work out some issues on the tee after his driver was deemed nonconforming before the PGA Championship.
In that respect, Oakmont was a step forward — even if at times this week he seemed eager to leave this course behind.
“I feel like I’ve driven the ball well all week,” McIlroy said. “Really encouraged with the driver and how I drove it as well. It’s not necessarily the driver, it’s more me and sort of where my swing was. I feel like I got a really good feeling in my swing with the driver, which was great. Hopefully I can continue that on into next week.”
After the Travelers, a return to the other side of the Atlantic looms, and McIlroy is looking forward to it.
"If I can’t get motivated to get up for an Open Championship at home, then I don’t know what can motivate me," he said. “I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind. I probably haven’t been there the last few weeks.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, stands on the 11th green after putting in during the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Sunday, June 15, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
LONDON (AP) — Britain's Conservative Party, which governed the country from 2010 until it suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat two years ago, was plunged into fresh turmoil Thursday after its leader sacked the man widely seen as her greatest rival for apparently plotting to defect from the party.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said in a video and statement on X that she sacked the party's justice spokesperson Robert Jenrick due to “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect" in a way that was “designed to be as damaging as possible” to the party. Badenoch also ejected Jenrick from the party's ranks in Parliament and suspended his party membership.
“The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I,” she said. “They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in this government. I will not repeat those mistakes.”
Though Badenoch did not specify which party Jenrick was planning to switch to, Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right Reform UK party, said he had “of course” had conversations with him.
In the past 12 months, the Conservatives have suffered a string of defections to Reform UK, including some former Cabinet ministers.
Farage said in a press briefing in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, that coincided with Badenoch's statement that, “hand on heart,” he wasn't about to present Jenrick as the latest Conservative to defect to Reform, an upstart, anti-immigration party.
“I’ll give him a ring this afternoon,” he said. “I might even buy him a pint, you never know.”
The Conservatives are fighting not just the Labour government to their left, but Reform UK to the right.
Reform, which only has a handful of lawmakers in the House of Commons, is tipped to make a major breakthrough in an array of elections this May, including those to the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, at the expense of both the Conservatives and Labour.
Jenrick, who continued to attract speculation about leadership ambitions despite being beaten in 2024, has appeared more open than Badenoch to the prospect of some sort of deal between the Conservatives and Reform to unite the right in the run-up to next general election, which has to take place by 2029.
Jenrick has yet to respond to the news of his sacking.
Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose favorability ratings have fallen sharply since the general election following a series of missteps, questioned why it took Badenoch “so long” to sack Jenrick given all the speculation that he was looking to either challenge her or to defect to Reform.
Badenoch, a small-state, low-tax advocate, has shifted the Conservatives to the right, announcing policies similar to those of U.S. President Donald Trump, including a promise to deport 150,000 unauthorized immigrants a year.
Her poor poll ratings and lackluster performance in Parliament had stirred speculation that she could be ousted long before the next election.
However, she has been making a better impression in Parliament in recent weeks, particularly during her weekly questioning of Starmer, in a way that appears to have cemented her position as leader.
The party is no stranger to turmoil, having gone through six leaders in the space of 10 years, five of them serving as prime minister. Widespread anger at the way the Conservatives were governing Britain led to their defeat at the general election in July 2024, when they lost around two-thirds of their lawmakers, their worst performance since the modern party was created nearly 200 years ago.
Robert Jenrick speaking at a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, London, where it was announced the former Conservative MP has joined Reform UK, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Robert Jenrick with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, London, where it was announced the former Conservative MP has joined Reform UK, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Reform Party leader Nigel Farage addresses protesters outside the Iranian embassy, in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)
Kemi Badenoch with Robert Jenrick before being announced as the new Conservative Party leader following the vote by party members at 8 Northumberland Avenue in central London, Nov. 3, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
