McIlroy's Open inspiration: British Lions, Oppenheimer

Perth Now

7 days ago

Rory McIlroy plans to watch the last part of Oppenheimer on Sunday morning before going to Royal Portrush with the intention of blowing all the predictions about the destination of the British Open's Claret Jug sky high.
On Saturday morning before his third round, the Northern Irishman's distraction also apparently put him in exactly the right mind to produce some sporting magic - watching the British & Irish Lions outclass the Wallabies in the first Test.
When you're under the sort of extraordinary pressure of expectation that the 36-year-old home-grown hero is facing on his local links, you see, a little distraction goes a long way.
And McIlroy reckons that with the whole of Northern Ireland cheering him on to overturn - improbably - the six-shot lead held by the world's No.1 player Scottie Scheffler, he'll need to have his mind on something else before he gets down to the course for his penultimate tee-off time at 2.20pm (11.20pm AEST).
"I always do better with distraction. So if I can just distract myself and get my mind on something else, that's always a good plan for me," said McIlroy, when asked how he was going to relax after his brilliant third-round 66 kept him in the hunt in joint-fourth position.
"I'll try to sleep as much as I can, but I don't have any rugby to distract me tomorrow morning. Watched New Zealand-France and the Lions' games today.
"So I'll try to find something to watch. I started 'Oppenheimer' last night. Try to get through another hour of it tonight and maybe finish it tomorrow morning. Apart from that, just keep my mind off of things."
He'll doubtless also be musing over the weirdest moment of his third round on Saturday when the masses following him looked a wee bit puzzled as McIlroy picked up a ball from the thick rough he'd just played out of on the 11th hole, held it in front of him and just guffawed.
It transpired that as he'd blasted his wedge shot out of the jungle, he'd not only hit his own ball, but also dug out another that had been buried underneath the turf. The second ball just popped up out of the ground and came to rest next to his feet.
"I have another golf ball," he said, utterly bemused, while later describing the episode as "the most weird, ridiculous thing I've ever seen."
And there were plenty of other ridiculous things during his five-under round. Like the 36ft curling birdie putt he sank at the first, and the 55 footer for eagle on the 12th, as well as the moment his approach hit the pin on 15 and gave him a tap-in birdie when it wouldn't otherwise even have stayed on the green.
"Incredible, an absolute pleasure," McIlroy said of his afternoon, and it really was a delight to watch the world's most exciting player in full cry.
For while Scheffler's work is machine-like in its quality, it's still Rory's mercurial game that stirs the blood.